fornia
nal
ty
LIBRARY
I
LECTURES TO LADIES
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY;
MRS. MARY S. COVE.
" God is paid when man receives ;
T" enjoy is to obey."
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY SAXTQJSf & PEIRCE,
No. 133J Washington
1842.
t
t
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, by
DAVID H. ELA,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.
D. H. ELA, PRINTER.
PREFACE.
THE question has often been asked, why I should de-
viate so far from what is considered the appropriate
sphere of woman in our country, as to meddle with those
studies which form the subject of this little volume.
Firmly believing that all things are under the control of
the Divine Providence, I will mention a few of the cir-
cumstances which have induced me to give attention to
these studies.
From infancy I have never known health, and very
early in life the foundation of a pulmonary complaint was
laid, by close dressing, which must, before many years,
consign me to a premature grave. Under these circum-
stances, it is not strange that my attention was turned
toward medical works.
When about 18 years of age, I commenced reading
on Pathology, and continued for several years reading
Medical, Anatomical, Physiological, and Pathological
works, as they came in my way. I concealed my pen-
chant for this kind of books as mucffas possible, as I did
VI PREFACE.
not like to be ridiculed and censured for reading works
which females seldom read, and I did not myself see
that much use could result from such a course of study.
In 1837 I attended several lectures given by Sylvester
Graham, in Lynn, Mass., the town where I then resided.
The knowledge I obtained from Mr. Graham gave vital-
ity and consequent usefulness to what I had before
acquired. It was comparatively unimportant for me to
know the mechanism of the human stomach, whilst I
knew nothing of the causes which deranged its func-
tions and produced disease.
Those who have heard my lectures know that I regard
Mr. Graham as one of the greatest benefactors the
world ever had. For most of what is practically valua-
ble in this work, I am indebted to his teachings directly,
or to principles upon which I have reasoned, which
have been derived from him.
To medical men I am under great obligation. They
have kindly assisted me in every way in their power.
They have loaned me books ; they have admitted me
to their museums ; they have permitted me to see dis-
sections. Besides, wherever I have lectured, they
have endeavored to correct the misapprehensions of the
people, and to encourage me to disseminate knowledge.
What I have learned through their kindness, I have
tried to make useful to the world. How far I have suc-
ceeded, I leave othys to determine.
CONTENTS.
LECTURE I.
The Importance of the Study of Anatomy and Physiology, p. 9
LECTURE D.
The Formation of Bone. . . ' . . . . . . 28
LECTURE III.
Number and Position of the Bones 47
LECTURE IV.
Muscles, Eye, Ear and .Nose. . . . : '.' . . 68
LECTURE V.
Circulation, Respiration and Ventilation. . . . . 91
LECTURE VI.
Anatomy and Physiology of the Stomach. . . . 109
LECTURE VH.
Dietetics . . ' . . 131
LECTURE VIII.
Dietetics, 148
Vlll CONTENTS.
LECTURE DL
Dietetics 166
LECTURE X.
Fluids . . . 184
LECTURE XL
Nervous System 205
LECTURE XIL
Nervous System. 220
LECTURE Xffl.
Diseases of the Spine 238
LECTURE XIV.
Education. . 260
LECTURES
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.
LECTURE L
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF ANATOMY
AND PHYSIOLOGY.
WHOEVER shall convince mankind of the neces-
sity and importance of the study of Anatomy and
Physiology, and those laws which govern life and
health, will do more toward promoting the general
good and happiness of our species, than he would
if he gave us priceless gems and gold without
measure. Man came from the hand of his God a
noble being, made in the image of his Creator.
That he is not that godlike being now, we have
most of us a perception of some kind. I know
there are those who say man's tendencies are to
good, rather than to evil. Those who say this,
must nevertheless feel that he is weak, that he is
often turned aside. We may have faith in human-
ity, we may believe that man can be elevated
will be ; and we may labor in this blessed faith for
2
10 LECTURES ON
the race ; still the crime, the wretchedness, that
exist on every hand, speak most truly, that man is
depraved, fallen, perverted. I care not by what
term men designate the moral and physical disor-
der with which our world is cursed. Man is here
in his degradation. We see it, feel it, in ourselves
and others, unless we have lost all of true humanity.
To Phrenologists and Physiologists, I need not
undertake to prove this doctrine. The first sees in
the organization of man a want of true balance
the last sees in it disease.
Says the Phrenologist, " If a man has a deficiency
of perceptive power, he cannot always judge of the
true. If he have too large acquisitiveness, he must
have large conscientiousness, or he will clutch his
neighbor's money, and so on of all the other
organs of the brain." According to Combe, a man
with deficient moral organs, and the organs of the
animal propensities large, needs a moral guardian,
as much as a man who wants the organ of number
needs a ready reckoner, in business transactions.
According to the Phrenologist and Physiologist,
the balance of healthy action is lost in our race ;
and according to these, hospitals should be erected
for the sinful, as for the sick. This is certainly
taking a benevolent view of poor erring humanity.
I come not so much to advocate this doctrine,
though I confess it has charms for me, as to lay it
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 11
before you. It will not hurt thinkers to think of
it ; to turn and examine it on every side ; dive into
its depths; sift it thoroughly; that if there be
any truth in it, they may find it. It is a contempt-
ible ignorance, nay, more, a hopeless ignorance, that
will not examine.
Let us for a moment take a view of the evils that
overspread our world, that are the legitimate conse-
quence of ignorance. We need not turn to the right
hand or to the left, to demonstrate the evils that
result from a want of knowledge. They cluster
around us in awful fruitfulness. They enter into
every ramification of civic life as it now is. It is
idle to attempt reformation by ordinary means, in
the present state of things. We must strike at the
root ; and I am so charitable to poor human nature,
poor as it is, that I believe a vast, an incalculable
amount of suffering is the result of ignorance, not
of wilful error ; consequently to remove this igno-
rance, is to strike at the root. I do not say that
knowledge, followed out in all its bearings, would
save the present generation. Many have been
born with feeble constitutions, in consequence of
the errors of their parents. They have been trained
in a manner most destructive to health. There are
many, who, let their course be ever so judicious,
could never attain a state of health, and cannot hold
on to life many years. Still their lives might be
12 LECTURES ON
lengthened and rendered vastly more comfortable,
did they know the laws that govern life, and had
they moral courage to act in accordance with them.
And they would save their children a vast amount
of suffering ; for it is a fact, physically speaking,
that the errors of the parents are visited on the heads
of their children. When the mother's whole system
is diseased, and under a vitiating influence, we can-
not expect that she will give health to her child. I
need not attempt to demonstrate to you the truth of
this assertion ; your own good sense will lead you
to assent to its truth at once. In no case do the
effects of physiological ignorance appear more
lamentable, or more fatal, than in children. There
seems to be something more revolting, in destroying
the innocent, than in committing suicide. Infants
are committed to our care ; we are their natural
guardians. But thousands of these little innocents
are destroyed every year, literally "killed with
kindness ;" and it is a wise, a benevolent law of
Providence, that the poison should thus quickly do
its work ; for if they are spared, it is but to endure
protracted suffering. The miseries of infants com-
mence even before birth. They are born with
deteriorated constitutions, and predisposition to dis-
ease. Their hold on life is often so slight, that but
a breath will break the attenuated thread. O that
I could speak to the heart and the understanding
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 13
of every mother. I would persuade her to let the
life of her child be precious in her sight. But how
can this be, when she is all the time laying suicidal
hands on herself; and during the time she nurses
her child, it is a part of her being. What mother
does not know, if she is ill, her nursing infant will
/ * o
be ill ? Milk is formed of such materials as are put
into the stomach. If good materials are wanting,
it is formed of such as there are. We know that
medicines affect the milk. When it was fashiona-
ble to drink wine and strong drink, the deadly
draught passed almost unaltered to the lips of the
little innocent who hung at its mother's breast, from
which nought but the pure streams of life should
ever flow. But alcohol is not the only deadly
substance, and when the food of the mother is
improper, it induces a train of evils, that have a
reciprocal influence in aggravating each other. The
stomach of the mother becomes diseased. The del-
icate lining membrane is inflamed, perhaps ulcer-
ated ; digestion is imperfectly performed ; the tem-
per of the mother is continually irritated by the
morbid condition of her system. A host of sym-
pathies are excited ; the unhappy, because unheal-
thy mother, has many cares beside her fretful child.
She thinks she has a " cross infant." People should
learn to call things by their right names : we should
say a diseased infant. My heart has long been
14 LECTURES ON
pained at beholding the ignorance of mothers. I
rejoice that a spirit of inquiry is awakened, that the
laws of life and health are beginning to be investi-
gated and understood. I am persuaded that the
long night of error is about to be chased from our
land, by the glorious sunlight of truth. The con-
science should be awakened on the subject of health.
It has too long been lulled asleep by the opiate of
indulgence. The table has been made a snare ;
men have made a god of appetite, and received in
themselves that recompense of their error which
was meet. From the cradle, we have been taught
to go astray. The appetites of children are vitiated,
and their systems predisposed to disease. All this
is done through ignorance, which in many cases is
unavoidable. I have seen a mother muffle her new
born infant as closely from the air, as if some deadly
miasm were floating in every breath of the pure
element. Thus the poor infant is rendered suscep-
tible of disease from what should be its vital nour-
ishment. Mothers in their ignorance poison the
very fountains of life and health. The infant is
not only muffled closely when carried out, but its
nursery is often so contrived as to exclude pure
air.
Another contrivance to vitiate the air, is that mis-
chievous invention, a cradle with a head. It is
surprising that mothers will use these, apparently
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 15
without reflection, when they know that air once
breathed is unfit for respiration a second time ; and
that they will throw a piece of muslin, a silk hand-
kerchief, or a heavy cloth, over the open part of the
head, and thus keep the child, during the time
of sleep, immersed in poison, and at every breath
inhaling it ; at a time too when the powers of resist-
ance possessed by the system lie in a measure dor-
mant. I have uncovered an infant, who had two
or three blankets and a quilt over its face, in one of
these cradles. What would be the feelings of one
of these mothers, if she should see her child swal-
lowing corrosive sublimate ? And yet she pursues
a course as irrational, as wrong, as if she introduced
poison into the stomach of her child. The poison
may be more slow, but it is not the less deadly and
sure. The frequent occurrence of fits in children,
would prove it to the anxious mother, had she her
eyes but half open to the cause though impure
air is far from being the only cause of fits. " Dark-
ness has covered the earth, and gross darkness the
people," in natural as in spiritual things. The
mother looks upon the babe which her ignorance,
her mistaken kindness, have destroyed, as the victim
of some special providence. I admit it is a provi-
dence that takes her child away, and a merciful
dispensation that removes the little creature from
suffering ; but it is an effect that follows a cause, as
16 LECTURES ON
much as hanging is a cause, and death an effect. I
am no advocate for hardening children by improper
exposure. I would have a judicious course pur-
sued by every mother, to invigorate her child ; then
no injurious consequences will result from an expo-
sure, that in other cases, under ordinary manage-
ment, would be death. What this judicious course
is, I shall endeavor to show hereafter.
The exclusion of pure air from the lungs and
bodies of children, is only one evil arising from
ignorance.
The ignorant mother says, " I always wean my
child when ' the sign comes right.' I feed it as soon
as I can make it swallow. I don't have to learn my
child to eat when I wean it. I always give it every
thing that I allow myself to eat. Then the child will
get used to it, and such food will not hurt it." This
is almost as bad as " getting used " to hanging.
Can the infant stomach, which has only the capaci-
ty to hold a glass, " get used " to hold half a pint,
without violence ? Can the delicate lining membrane
of the infant stomach, which is far more delicate and
susceptible than its external skin, bear the stimuli
of spice, pepper, flesh, &c., mingled in that very
injurious compound, " mince pie," without injury,
when it would produce a sore if applied to the
external skin ? Yet how many mothers give their
children " mince pie," and bring forward the plea
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 17
that " such food will not hurt children, if they are
only used with eating it." I have seen a mother
feed her child, whose age was four months, with
pork, hog's fat, and potatoes, when the little suf-
ferer had whooping cough. It was agonizing to
witness the convulsive throes of the poor child, as
the outraged stomach rejected, with loathing and
abhorrence, the deadly and unnatural injesta.
I would that I were not under the necessity of
sullying my pages with a notice of the abuses of
civic life. The necessity that these errors should be
brought to view and corrected, must constitute my
excuse for bringing subjects before my readers, disa-
greeable to them and to me. The child above
mentioned, after being fed in such an improper man-
ner, was enveloped in blankets, the head as closely
as the body. At the first stopping place, when
allowed again to breathe the pure air, the child's
face was discovered to be a deep purple, as if it
were in the last stage of strangulation. The mother,
though as sensible and accomplished as most women,
owing to the lamentable want of physiological infor-
mation at this day, had no idea that impure air caused
the deathly appearance of her child. She had cov-
ered it from the air, to prevent its taking cold.
In view of such abuses, it is cheering to re-
flect that light is beginning to break in upon us.
Many see that they have been steeped in error to
18 LECTURES ON
the very lips, and are making praiseworthy efforts
to escape from the evil influence. Many people
seem to think that all diseases are immediate visita-
tions from the Almighty, arising from no cause but
his immediate dispensation. Many seem to have
no idea that there are established laws with respect
to life and health, and that the transgression of these
laws is followed by disease. In this sense disease
is a visitation from the Almighty. People complain
of being ill, and seem to think it no more necessary
to ascertain the cause of their illness, than to deter-
mine why the sun shines to-day, when it was cloudy
yesterday. Let any one suggest the idea that their
habits are wrong, and he is met at once with, " I
am no Grahamite, I eat and drink, as other folks
do. I take snuff, because rny physician recom-
mends it, for the catarrh, or weak eyes ; and I
smoke, because my food hurts me. I drink tea, be-
cause I have the sick headache. 1 drink coffee,
because I love it, and will drink it ; and I always
have the headache, when I don't drink coffee in the
morning."
It is in vain to attempt to get these persons to
adopt correct habits, without knowledge. They
will listen to you, and perhaps determine to adopt
what you tell them is right. But long habit has
depraved the appetite and the functions. These
cannot be corrected in a day, a month, or perhaps
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 19
a year, or years. They are impatient. They wish
for rapid results. They do not know the laws which
govern life. They are at the mercy of every wind
that blows. They must contend with their own
depraved appetites, the fears and solicitations of
friends, and often they have ah oracular warning
from some pretender to medical knowledge, who
may have intruded into the profession. And these
persons have a blind confidence in medicine, often
equal to the Arab's confidence in amulets and
charms. They may not have confidence in the
regular medical profession. No matter ; they place
a blind confidence somewhere ; perhaps in botanic
medicines, perhaps in calomel or lobelia, or in the
last advertised quack nostrum ; and if the practi-
tioner promises them indulgence, or in other words
that they may eat and drink what they choose, and
pay no attention to their habits, they will have so
much the more confidence.
With such people, habits are nothing, medicine
is all. They would willingly go through a course
of druggings, when they could hardly be persuaded
to relinquish one hurtful indulgence. Could they
be induced to give up dosing, and adopt correct
habits, they might add years to their lives. I am
far from decrying the regular and rational practice
of medicine. That physician who has sense and
science, who knows all that he can learn of human
20 LECTURES ON
anatomy and physiology, who will enlighten people
with respect to hygienic laws, and administer medi-
cine judiciously, when it is a less evil to give than
to withhold it, is a blessing to society.
Physiology, were it understood, would make
people tremble at the idea of dosing continually, or
even occasionally, with purgatives and other medi-
cines. Did people know the danger of introducing
poisons at hap-hazard into the system, under the
name of medicine, they would beware. A little
reflection would convince you that medicines which
you have been accustomed to consider harmless,
are in reality poisons. Why should the system be
in such haste to reject these substances, by vomit-
ing, purging, and deathly perspiration, if they are
not poisonous. Terrible intestinal disease is induced
by this dosing with purgatives and other medicines.
Do not think you are safe, because you have a
vegetable medicine. There are active and deadly
poisons in the vegetable, as in the mineral kingdom.
You may say, " I do not poison myself or my family
with minerals." Prussic acid, henbane, cicuta, &,c.
are deadl) poisons, and yet they are vegetable pro-
ductions.
The end at which physiologists aim is prevention.
They do not make war upon this or that medical
school, which is honestly endeavoring to benefit the
race. But the general resort to quacks and their
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 21
nostrums, is a great evil. We should live in such
a manner as not to need medicine of any kind.
But if from past errors, or a vitiated constitution,
we need medicine, let us have the best possible
help, and let not our habits counteract all a physi-
cian's efforts. Who would think of resuscitating a
drowned man, whilst he was under water ? Just
as vain is the attempt to restore permanent health
to persons whilst they are indulging the very habits
that made them sick.
It is surprising, that people will trust their lives
in the care of those who are not even pretenders to
medical knowledge ; who denounce the study of
Anatomy and Physiology as useless, and who would
fain persuade us that they have found a shorter road
to the healing art than rational, laborious study.
Whilst I plead for the regular study and practice
of medicine, if mankind will so abuse themselves as
to need medicine, I detest ignorance and quackery,
when found in the medical profession, as much, or
more, than when found elsewhere.
The rage for quack medicines has become almost
as general as the demand for water. If ever Anat-
omy and Physiology, and those laws which govern
life and health, come to be generally understood in
the world, a vast amount of money will be saved,
and a vast amount of misery escaped.
I do not say how far men will be faithful to
22 LECTURES ON
these laws, when understood. All history fur-
nishes lamentable proof that knowledge is not vir-
tue. Genius, knowledge, mental cultivation of the
highest order, have been disgraced by the commis-
sion of crime, the darkness of which was in propor-
tion to the blaze of intellectual light. But with
many in our land, knowledge of the laws of life is
alone wanting, to insure obedience to them ; and it
is to be hoped that when physiological knowledge
is generally diffused, quacks of all kinds will have
to seek some other employment than battening on
the life blood of the community. Lest any one
should misunderstand me, I will here state distinctly
what I mean by the term quack : " A boastful pre-
tender to knowledge he does not possess." Con-
sequently, being a member of a medical society,
does not hinder a man from being a quack. Knowl-
edge is what we want. It should be diffused, not
locked up in any profession.
It is much to the credit of the medical faculty,
that they are striving to diffuse knowledge. With
many, every thing in Physiology is to be learned ;
for nothing, or next to nothing, is known. Many
people who have much information about many
things and many books, appear to have less knowl-
edge on the subject of health, than a poor black
woman I once met, who came from Africa, and
had been deprived of most means of acquiring infor-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 23
raation. Said " Achaby," (that was her African
name,) " I thinks people disgests their food better,
when they chaws it well." Observation had taught
her this truth, and she was wiser than many of her
superiors in knowledge. Some people seem never
seriously to consider why their teeth were given
them. They do not use them properly, and they
are soon taken from them. Reason and Physiology
teach that the teeth might last to old age, as well
as the other bones, did we not abuse them by
neglect, through the medium of the stomach, and
other means.
The doctrine of sympathy between the different
parts of the system, needs to be better understood.
Many parents, for trifling ailments, dose themselves
or their children with powerful medicines, whilst
the most skilful physicians rely on abstinence, and
correct habits, for the cure of slight disorders, and
resort to medicine with caution for the cure of those
which are more serious. 1 am fully impressed with
the value of medicine in the hands of a skilful phy-
sician ; but I am as fully impressed with the value
of good habits, or in other words, of prevention.
Terrible evils result from the indiscreet use of med-
icines, especially purgatives and emetics. Medi-
cines often induce much more serious disorders than
those they are administered to cure. The frequent
use of drastic medicines causes inflammation of the
24 LECTURES ON
mucous membrane that lines the stomach and intes-
tines, piles, and many other evils.
Think of this, ye mothers, who dose yourselves
.and children with salts, or with calomel, or with
you know not what, in the " Brandreth's pills," and
the thousand and one quack medicines with which
the ignorant are abused. That person who shall
enlighten people with regard to the indiscreet use
of purgatives alone, will deserve the thanks of the
community. I have seen parents who would boast
of curing their children of various disorders by the
use of powerful medicines, unaided by a physician.
The children had lived, notwithstanding they had
been most injudiciously treated. The parents little
knew the evils they were creating and perpetuating,
by these " cures." Should diseased action be estab-
lished in a part of the system not at first attacked,
they know nothing of the vital economy, they con-
sider it the consequence of the disorder, not of the
drugs they have ignorantly administered. Should
a child after passing through a period of illness,
and a course of domestic practice, appear as though
some deadly mildew or blight had struck it, the
disorder is uniformly considered the cause. " My
child," says the mother, " had the measles." or scar-
let fever, as the case may be, " and the disorder did
not leave him well, and he has been unwell ever
since." With all the abuses that surround us, is it
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 5
wonderful that the mortality among children is so
great ? Is it wonderful that there is so much disease
and imbecility of body and mind in after years ? Is
it wonderful that there is a precocious and unnatu-
ral development of animal instincts and passions,
and that ruin, in many instances, is the conse-
quence ?
I have glanced at a few only of the evils that
are the result of ignorance. I have not yet noticed
that fruitful source of death, tight lacing, upon which
so much has been said within the last few years. I
do not say knowledge would reform all who indulge
in this ruinous practice ; but let knowledge be dis-
seminated, and we have good reason to believe that
we have moral principle enough in our land, when
influenced by knowledge, to work wonders for our
race. Those who are not influenced by a sense of
duty, will fear and tremble, when made sensible of
the dreadful effects resulting from compression.
Mothers should teach their children to regard
tight lacing as dishonorable and criminal, and that
it is as much at variance with beauty and propor-
tion as it really is. But mothers not only neglect
to learn their own anatomy, and thus neglect to
teach their children, for the plain reason that they
cannot teach what they do not know, but they
lace themselves in a deadly manner, and make the
clothing of their children, frf)m infancy, so tight as
3
26 LECTURES ON
to obstruct the circulation. Thus they commence
the work of death from the cradle. I have known
an ignorant, yet in many respects amiable mother,
who made the clothes of her little daughter, only
three years old, so tight that she could not bear to
have them hooked, only when in company. Think
ye this mother would wilfully murder her child ?
Far from it. But fashion was the mother's tyrant ;
and though this child was her darling, the object of
her unceasing care, yet she dared not do otherwise
than yield obedience to fashion. Let us not con-
demn her until we examine our own habits, and see
if we are not in some way the slaves of this unmer-
ciful deity that the world has exalted.
People should be awakened to a consciousness
that there are duties that they owe to themselves as
well as to those around them. Some of the more
obvious causes of injury are carefully avoided. We
would not stand in the way of a falling building ;
we would not swallow corrosive sublimate ; but we
see numbers drawing suicidal cords, till the blood
labors on its course with the greatest difficulty, so
imperfectly oxidyzed that the lips and face of the
victim are often purple. These are objects of pity
and blame to those who are producing not less fatal
results, by the use of deadly narcotics. They will
perhaps take the pipe or the cigar from the mouth,
to inveigh against tight lacing, whilst their prostrated
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 27
energies, their deathly weakness and trembling,
ought to warn them that they are as surely commit-
ting suicide, as the victim of vanity and fashion.
The evils of civic life cluster before me in such
a manner, that I can glance only at a few of them.
Females are more particularly victims than males,
as the customs of society deny them out door ex-
ercise, and make them in many instances mere dolls
and pretty things. During the day, and often a
large portion of the night, they are loaded with
clothing of a fashion the most absurd and ridiculous.
Weak and exhausted from the excess of clothing,
when they retire to rest, they sink in the enervating
feather bed, loaded with the absorbed miasm of
perhaps an hundred persons, who have before slept
on it. The insensible perspiration or transpiration,
which is continually thrown off from the human
body, loaded with waste and hurtful particles, is
thrown back upon us when we are sunk in a feather
bed ; and thus the body is immersed, through the
night, in a vapor bath, saturated with the health-
destroying effluvia of our own bodies. The system
is thus enervated, and rendered susceptible of injury
from changes. Those who are always fearful of
taking cold, almost always have a cold. Can the
delicate female, who loads herself with an excess
of clothing in hot weather, be aware that she is
weakening her whole system, laying herself open to
28 LECTURES ON
disease, and even inviting it and all for fashion's
sake ? The belief that it is not moral obliquity, but
want of information, that causes the many abuses
we see in society, is a great consolation.
I have surveyed but a small part of the vast field
before us. The advantages of knowledge become
more apparent as we investigate, and the overwhelm-
ing woes, that are the consequences of ignorance,
are presented with awful definiteness to our minds.
LECTURE H.
THE FORMATION OF BONE.
THE first step to be taken in the pursuit of
science, is to discipline the mind. It is no child's
play, to learn and understand the wonderful mechan-
ism of the human system. When we consider the
importance of this knowledge, I trust we shall all
be willing to give the subject that patient attention
and investigation which insures reward.
I once saw a young lady whose beauty, accom-
plishments and general knowledge made her quite
fascinating ; and yet she was so ignorant of anato-
my, that speaking of one of her friends, who had
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 29
spinal disease, she said her friend was " dreadfully
afflicted with the spine in her bach bone.'" What
lady would not shut herself up and study anatomy
for months, rather than make such a ridiculous
blunder !
The frame work of the body, that is, the bones,
will first claim our attention ; not because the bones
are independent of the other parts, but because we
must have a starting point. The bones form the
basis of the human system they support, defend,
and contain the more delicate organs. Some may
suppose the bones destitute of life, and hardly
organized, and not liable to disease and death ; but
anatomy explains to us the structure of the bones,
and shows their vessels. These vessels are full of
blood, which nourishes the bones. The bones grow
and decay, and are at times the subjects of terrible
disease. The formation of bone is a very curious
process. The bones of the infant, before birth, are
cartilaginous. The bones of young children are
soft and yielding ; and it is a wise provision, as they
meet with many falls that would endanger hard or
brittle bones. I once saw an Irish woman holding
her insensible babe in her arms, which had fallen
from the top to the bottom of a long flight of stairs.
The mother was comforted and relieved from her
fears of a fractured skull, when she was assured by
a physician, that her child's skull would bend an
inch before it would break.
30 LECTURES ON
According to Bell and others, the cartilage that
supplies the place of bone in the infant is never har-
dened into bone. These cartilages have their blood
vessels, and the first mark of ossification is an artery
running into the centre of the jelly, in which the
bone is to be formed. By an artery is meant a
blood vessel, which carries blood, that is capable of
forming, nourishing and renovating the different parts
of the body. By ossification is meant the formation
of bone : os being the Latin for bone, and ossify
meaning to form bone. This artery, which runs
into the centre of the cartilage or jelly, carries par-
ticles of bony matter, which are deposited, and a
minute speck of bone appears first ; then particle
after particle is carried and deposited, the jelly
being carried away by another set of vessels to
make room for the bone. Thus the work goes
on, till the jelly or cartilage is carried away, and
bone laid in its place. Some anatomists have said
that the cartilage is not removed, but that the bony
matter is impacted into its interstices. This may be
true in some degree, but we have the best authority
for believing that most of the cartilage is removed.
You now see that bone is made from blood, as are all
parts of the body. This is the vital fluid, that nour-
ishes and renovates the body. You can now see why
a bad state of the blood should affect the bones. I
wish you to understand that there are organs whose
business it is to take from the blood those particles
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 31
that are to form or renovate any organ or part of the
body. Thus the organs select, with what seems
almost living instinct, those particles which are to
form bone, and they are deposited. This is regu-
larly done, in a healthy state of the organs ; and
what will form bone is not alone selected, but the
material for hair, skin, nails, muscles, and indeed
every part and particle of the human body.
In order to the formation of good blood, you will
at once see the necessity of good food. As every
part of the body depends on the blood for nutrition,
how important that this fluid be not only perfect in
its kind, but properly manufactured, without injury
to the vital organs. We know that a skilful work-
man will, by much labor, make a pretty good arti-
cle of poor materials. So it may be of the blood,
whilst the eliminating organs remain in a tolerably
healthy state. But it does not hence follow, that
good materials are not better than poor. And be-
sides, we should remember that this unnecessary
labor is wearing out the vital organs.
The blood may be bad from being made of bad
materials, or from a deranged state of the organs of
assimilation. A good workman may become, by
loss of power, either of body or mind, incapable of
making good work, even of good materials. It may
be said, we cannot detect any difference between
blood made from good materials and that made from
32 LECTURES ON
poor. I answer, we can read an author through his
doings. The body is imperfectly nourished, and
becomes diseased, when the blood is not good.
It is a truth, that in order to have perfect bones,
and to keep them in a state of health, the organs
whose business it is to convey nourishment to the
bones, should be in a healthy state, and they should
have the best materials from which to extract this
nourishment. And it is certain, if the vital organs
are continually disturbed and troubled by improper
substances from which to eliminate nourishment,
they will become jaded and deranged, and finally
the whole regularity, harmony and economy of their
action will be broken up, and all will go wrong.
The assimilating organs cannot suffer alone. There
is a sympathy between all the organs of the body ;
however great, complex, or minute, " all are but
parts of one stupendous whole." If one wheel in
a clock is injured, all will go wrong, because all the
parts are dependent on each other.
You now perceive that all parts of the body are
formed from the blood, and that all parts are formed
by means of vessels, of organs whose business it is
to eliminate particles from the blood, that will form,
nourish or renovate the several tissues and organs.
If we take improper food, or food at improper
times, or in improper quantities, we cannot have
good blood formed, because there is not suitable
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 33
materials, or because the organs that make blood
are rendered capable of working only in a lame and
crippled manner.
Bone is formed of earthy matter phosphate of
lime and gelatine. Where these parts are duly
balanced, we have proper bone.
There is so much sympathy and relation between
the different parts of the body, that good habits, and
temperance in all things, are necessary to preserve
all parts in health. " If one member of the body
suffers, all suffer with it." It is not the due obser-
vance of one thing, or two things, that will make
us healthy or happy.
You see that bone is composed of earthy matter
(phosphate of lime) and gelatine. Now if there is
an undue proportion of gelatine, you will at once
perceive that the bones will be too soft, and here
comes to view that terrible disease called mollites
ossium, or softening of the bones. Instances have
occurred in this disease, where the bones of the
miserable sufferer might be bent so that the heels
would touch the back of the head. The bones are
at times so soft, in this disorder, that they may be
cut through with a knife. Numerous cases are on
record, of such softening of the bones. An eminent
writer, speaking of the cause, says, "It appears
frequently to consist in a morbid state of the diges-
tive organs ; but it is seated, perhaps, as often in
34 LECTURES ON
the assimilating or secernent vessels, that is, the
vessels that separate and appropriate those parts
and particles that go to make up the bones."
Now if people will abuse themselves, their diges-
tive organs, or the other organs in the vital econo-
my that are laboring for parts of the great whole,
they must expect, as a consequence, the derange-
ment of the functions. They must expect disease.
It may be of this kind, it may be of some other.
Another disease of the bones is that familiar to
you under the denomination of rickets. Here let
me observe, as a proof of the degeneracy of man, of
his having left right habits, and come under the do-
minion of wrong habits, the fact that rickets and its
varieties are comparatively of modern date, and
cannot be traced back farther than the seventeenth
century. It is the opinion of the most eminent
pathologists, that rickets may be traced, in most
instances, and bating the predisposition inherited
from diseased parents, they might have said in all
instances, to the want of a pure air, a warm and dry
atmosphere, regular exercise, nutritious food, and
cleanliness ; and the severity of the symptoms is
very generally in proportion to the extent or multi-
plicity of these concurrent causes.
Proper exercise, a dry, pure and temperate at-
mosphere, plain, wholesome food, cleanliness, and
cold bathing, have often wrought a cure, without a
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 35
particle of medicine, though medicine may be neces-
sary at times. No mother or nurse should for a
moment admit the idea that she pays proper atten-
tion to cleanliness, without bathing the whole sur-
face of a child's body daily.
It is believed rickets is not as common now as it
was several years since, because people see that a
rational course will save them from the evil. Peo-
ple are beginning to be aware that a regimen that
will cause them to recover from illness, will preserve
them in health. They are beginning to learn that
they bring suffering and disease upon themselves
and their offspring, by indulgence in habits which
are only pleasant, or even tolerable, because we
are depraved, or because they are habits. People
suppose themselves the victims of some dire disease,
which has come upon them, they know not whence
or wherefore. They seem to have a kind of vague
idea that they are afflicted with sickness for their
sins ; but they have not the shadow of an idea that
it is for sin against the laws of life. I have heard
Christians gravely arguing about the origin of dis-
eases. I have heard them attribute sickness to the
fall of man ; but not one word was said about eat-
ing and drinking every thing nothing of unclean-
ness, and of the thousand and one abuses of civic life.
I will here give a brief notice of a terrible dis-
ease, in which the bones and brain seem to suffer
36 LECTURES ON
most. I allude to the disorder called Cretinism,
found mostly in the valleys of Switzerland, among
the Alps, and also among the Pyrenees. This
disorder resembles rickets, though generally more
severe, and more to be dreaded, as the organs of
the brain share the fate of the diseased body ; and
there is an almost total obliteration of the mental
faculties. " In Cretinism, the body is stinted in its
growth, and the organs in their developement. The
abdomen swells, the skin is wrinkled, the muscles
are loose and flabby, the throat is often covered
, with a monstrous prominence, the complexion is
jvan, and the countenance vacant and stupid. The
cranium [skull] bulges out to an enormous size.
Their blunted sensibility renders them indifferent
to the action r pf cold or heat, and even to blows
and wounds. They are generally deaf and dumb.
Their organs of sight, smell, taste and feeling are
very limited htiheir operation, and of moral affec-
tions they seem wholly destitute."
The causes of this terrific malady, are, first, a
close, iiumid and oppressive atmosphere.-... Their
valleys a'ije' surrounded by high mountains, that
shield them from fresh currents of air. They are
thus continually steeped in a poisoned atmosphere,
as their natural situation makes them the victims of
the same contamination jhj^ people in civic life
bring about by means of "closed carriages, close,
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 37
unventilated rooms, crowded assemblies, where veils
are often drawn before the face to further contami-
nate the already poisoned air. Every young lady
ought to know that air once breathed is unfit for
respiration a second time. Though I shall speak
more particularly of air hereafter, I can hardly
avoid saying, here, that though veils are bad enough
in the open air, yet in a close room or crowded
assembly, they are so great an evil, that every lady
who wears one over her face, is verily guilty,
whether she knows it or not.*
Though Cretinism may not be the result of a
confined atmosphere, yet experience demonstrates
that disease and death are its legitimate fruits. Other
causes contribute to form Cretinism improper food,
indolence, uncleanliness, and hereditary taint, often
of many generations. In this disorder we see the
lamentable effects of many deleterious influences
combined. Each of these influences would sepa-
rately work an amount of mischief; but when com-
bined, their effects become apparent to all, even to
the most careless observer. If we would be free
from each and every disorder, we must avoid each
and every cause of disorder. The causes of disease
are not as obscure as many are disposed to believe,
* I by no means wish to condemn veils, when the severity of the
weather makes them necessary f but this was written when it was
the fashion to wear veils close drawn in church and other assemblies.
38 LECTURES ON
and the causes of our many trials and difficulties in
this world, lie more at our own doors than people
are willing to acknowledge.
There is in the human system a continued waste
and renovation. One set of particles are continually
being thrown out of the system to give place to a
new set, so that the entire system is continually
being formed, wasted and renovated. There are
vessels or organs whose business it is to cast these
particles out of the system, that they may give their
place to fresh particles, just eliminated from the
blood. Now it is obvious that if there be a torpor
of the secernents, or those vessels which separate
particles from the blood to make any particular
part, whether it be bone or brain, or whatever it
may be, if there be disorder or torpor of these secer-
nents, the part will not be properly nourished ; and
if the excernents, or those vessels which separate
and throw out particles from the system, keep on
their work, the balance of healthy action will be
lost, and disease will ensue, and the reverse of
this is equally true. For instance, the bony matter
which the excernents should throw out of the sys-
tem, is at times left in the bones, and they become
impacted and brittle. There are cases of debility
and functional derangement of the excernents, where
the bones become brittle instead of soft. There
seems to be in these cases a deficiency not only of
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 39
gelatine, but of one or more of the constituents of
healthy earth of bones. I know an individual who
has twice broken the fibula (the smaller bone of the
leg) when walking deliberately along the street :
the bone snapped like a pipe-stem. The limb was
set, and in due time, by perfect rest, united. After
a few years, that bone, or the bone of the other leg,
(I do not recollect which,) broke short in precisely
the same manner. Be it remembered, this good
man was a free liver, and though he ate no more of
what are termed good things than many others, and
though his manner of living, perhaps, caused no
greater amount of suffering, in the aggregate, than
others endure, yet he received a part of his punish-
ment in a little different manner. I say a part, as
he had almost continual rheumatism ; and this is by
no means a novel complaint, and will not be, so
long as men tempt their appetites, and, as a natural
consequence, eat much more than they need, and
make all their habits fruitful sources of mischief.
There is sometimes a sluggishness or debility in
the vessels of the system, and hence their work is
often improperly done. Bony matter is sometimes
left to stagnate in the blood vessels, and they are
thus rendered rigid and even ossific. They are
even at times converted into bony tubes. As the
arteries carry bony matter, and are in fact the instru-
ments by which ossification is performed, there seems
40 LECTURES ON
great danger, if their healthy action is disturbed,
that they will cause extensive mischief, either by
carrying and depositing bony matter where it does
not belong, or in consequence of debility and a de-
ficiency of action, the earthy particles are left to
stagnate in the sides of the vessels, and thus con-
vert them into bony tubes. Instances of this kind
have frequently occurred.
There is also at times a deranged and erratic
action of those vessels which carry bony matter. It
is thus often carried to, as well as left in, the wrong
place. Bony matter has thus been found in perhaps
every organ of the body in the brain, in the heart,
in the kidneys and glands ; and even the ball of the
eye has been found changed to bone, or, as we say,
ossified ; and in one comparatively recent instance,
the whole body was ossified or changed to bone.
It may be said, it will frighten people to know all
this : I would that they might be frightened out of
bad habits into good ones ; for sooner will the sun
again stand still, than any be thus afflicted, who
obey the laws of nature. But disease, and suffer-
ing, and unnatural death, will ever await those who
live in rebellion against these laws.
We have thus briefly noticed some of the diseases
of the bones, and it may here be remarked, that gen-
erally, those parts of the body that are the slowest
to become sensible of disease and distress, are sub-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 41
jects of the keenest anguish when aroused to dis-
eased action ; as those persons who bear a great
deal of maltreatment without having their anger
aroused, are usually very spirited when they are
provoked.
Every bone has, like the soft parts of the body,
its arteries, veins, and absorbent vessels ; and each
bone has nerves although the sensibility of bones,
unless diseased, is very slight. Bones have no feel-
ing, that is, they convey no sensation to the brain,
when cut in amputation ; yet no pains are more
severe than those of the joints and bones, when
they are diseased. The bones serve as the basis
of the soft parts. They also support and direct
motion, and some of the bones have even a higher
use, as the bones of the skull, which protect the
brain. The ribs and sternum, or breast bone, which
protect the lungs and heart, are often made the
instruments of mischief, by means of compression
upon the viscera within. I cannot now go out of my
way to speak of that worse than heathen abomina-
tion, tight lacing. Truly, it is far more to be depre-
cated than the hook with which the wretched in-
habitants of Hindostan pierce their flesh, and thus
suspend themselves and swing in the air, the victims
of a cruel superstition. The suffering and death
produced in this way, are not to be compared with
the misery and death which are the consequence of
4
42 LECTURES ON
compression. Injuries to those bones which guard
the heart and lungs, are almost as fatal as injuries to
those which guard the brain. The breast bone may
be made to press inward upon the heart in such a
manner as to burst it. But more commonly the poor
sufferer dies a slow and miserable death, worn out
by anxiety and oppression, fainting, palpitations,
anxious breathings, quick and interrupted pulse,
still more frequent faintings, and death. I trust I
shall hereafter convince the most incredulous of the
truth of what I have just said : but one thing at a time.
It may be well here to speak of the teeth. There
are three periods in which dentition, or the breeding
and cutting of teeth, takes place uniformly in
infancy, in youth, and adult age ; and sometimes
teeth are produced in advanced life.
The teeth of man are composed of two distinct
sets, differing both in number and structure. The
first, or smaller set, consist of ten for each jaw.
These are usually cut between the ninth and twenty-
fourth month after birth, and are shed between the
seventh and fourteenth year. These are called
the milk teeth. The second, or larger set, con-
sist of fourteen, fifteen or sixteen for each jaw.
These, with the exception of the farther grinder,
are usually cut by the eighteenth year. This gen-
erally appears after the twentieth, and sometimes
as late as the thirtieth year ; and they are hence
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 43
called the wisdom teeth. The rudiments of the
teeth lie in the jaw bone, like little lumps of jelly.
They are surrounded by a peculiar membrane, and
a bony socket. This socket shoots up from the jaw
bone, as the teeth advance. It accompanies the
growth of the tooth, and at first entirely surrounds
it, in consequence of its being secreted and hardened
with more rapidity than the tooth. By this admi-
rable contrivance a firm support is given to the gums,
from the time of birth, and the infant is enabled to
make sufficient pressure to nurse, without interfering
with the form which the teeth are destined to re-
ceive. In due time, however, the socket yields its
upper surface, and the tooth is forced through, and
cuts not only the socket, but the gum.
When the first set of teeth has answered its tem-
porary purpose, it has its roots absorbed, and the
teeth are shed. The sockets also are absorbed, at
the same time, and disappear. This change is
wonderful, and shows us clearly the nice adapta-
tion the different parts of the body have to the con-
dition of the body.
The large, permanent teeth, with their appropri-
ate sockets, are produced when they are needed.
Before the first set of teeth are shed, there are two
sets in the jaws. With children there is often
much irritation and functional derangement during
the period of breeding and cutting teeth. To
44 LECTURES ON
enable a cjhild to pass safely and comfortably through
this period, such a course should be pursued as will
invigorate the child, and render its health firm pre-
vious to this time of trial. The whole surface of
an infant's body should be bathed every day, from
its birth, with cold or slightly warm water. It
should not be kept from the air ; its nursery should
be thoroughly ventilated. I do not like the term
nursery ; it implies too much confinement. Chil-
dren and infants should not be confined ; they should
have air ; they should have exercise. Few people
are sufficiently sensible of the importance of air and
exercise. The blood will not be good, unless we
have pure air. This I shall fully demonstrate in
another place. But good blood will not circulate
freely without exercise.
Whatever renders the general health of the child
good and firm, in the first months of its existence,
will diminish its danger in the period of dentition.
Indeed, were children rationally managed, there
would be little trouble experienced at this season.
There is sometimes considerable inflammation, when
the teeth shoot upward rapidly, and the membrane
that surrounds them does not readily give way.
This can be immediately removed by cutting down
to the tooth. When the imprisoned tooth is thus
set at liberty, the inflammation ceases as by a charm.
Some object to cutting the gum, fearing that the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 45
tooth will not readily come forward, and that the cut
edges will unite, and form an indurated substance
above the tooth, and thus render it more difficult
for the tooth to protrude. Experience does not
justify these fears, but shows conclusively, that it is
best to set the tooth at liberty. Life has, no doubt,
often been saved by resolutely cutting the gums.
There is often much local irritation in teething.
The grand point to be gained is to moderate this
irritation. A diarrhoea, or excessive flow of saliva,
is nature's method of doing this ; but how many
mothers are excessively alarmed at the diarrhoea, as
if this were the disease, and not a relieving process.
And here comes in that dreadful practice of drug-
ging the little sufferer, often to death. Laudanum,
paregoric, "Godfrey's cordial," and many more
deadly mixtures, are in their turn resorted to.
Happy is the child who is hardy enough to live in
spite of these abuses. My heart aches when I see
innocent children thus abused by kind parents, who
would do them good, but who are ignorant. I can
hardly restrain my indignation, when I contemplate
the disease and misery and death which are caused
by quacks, and their detestable compounds, which
are sold by men whose only aim is to get money.
Many who will not give their children opium, will
not hesitate to give them cordials and elixirs, the
bases of which are opium.
46 LECTURES ON
A most distressing circumstance came to my
knowledge, not long since. A young woman had
a lovely babe. This darling was slightly ill, and
of course demanded more care than ordinary. The
mother was told to give it paregoric to quiet it. She
did so ; but she gave it so large a quantity, that her
child slept the sleep of death. A friend of the mis-
erable mother told me that she often went to the
grave of her child, and threw herself upon its ashes,
to weep, and upbraid herself with its murder.
O may mothers be persuaded to let these deadly
drugs alone. What is poisonous hi large quantities,
is poisonous in small quantities. Its effects may be
less obvious, but though slow, they will be sure.
The practice of dosing children with narcotics, or
indeed any medicine, is a practice fraught with
danger.
Dentition is often attended with pain and function-
al derangement, in the adult. I recollect reading in
a medical work, of a lady who was extremely ill.,
and who was thought to be far gone in a decline \
and the cause was, all the while, one of the wisdom
teeth was struggling to cut through the membrane
and gum that bound it. A slight touch of the lancet
set the tooth free, and all the alarming symptoms of
disease and decline rapidly disappeared.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 47
LECTURE III.
NUMBER AND POSITION OF THE BONES.
THE bones of the head, which contain and de-
fend the brain, are eight in number. The frontal
bone forms the forehead and fore part of the head.
The parietal or wall bones, from parietes, the Latin
word for wall, form the sides and upper part of the
head. The os occipitis, or occipital bone, is named
from occiput, or back of the head, from its forming
the back part of the head. The ossa temporum,
or temporal bones, form the lower parts of the sides
of the cranium or skull. They are called temporal,
from tempora, the Latin word for times ; as the
hair first turns grey on these bones, denoting the
time of life. The ethmoid and spheroid bones are
hidden in the base of the skull. The ethmoid bone
is perforated with holes. Through these holes it
transmits the olfactory nerves. It takes its name
from these holes, ethmoid or sieve-like bone. It
forms an important part of the nose. The os sphe-
roid lies in between the occipital bone and the
ethmoid bone. It lies at the top of the throat,
forms the back of the nostrils, supports the centre
of the brain, and transmits several of its nerves. All
48 LECTURES ON
these bones are joined together by seams, which
have indented edges, much like saw teeth, which
shut into each other. These seams are called by
anatomists sutures.
The spine, or back bone, which supports the
head, is a long line formed of twenty-four distinct
bones, named vertebrae, from the Latin vertere, to
turn. Each bone has a hole through its centre,
and when put together, they form a long tube,
which contains and protects the spinal marrow.
The bones of the spine are very free in their motions,
and yet very strong. The spine is flexible enough
to turn quickly in every direction, and yet it is
steady enough to protect the spinal marrow, the
most delicate part of the nervous system. The
atlas is the uppermost bone of the vertebral column,
so called because the head rests upon it. The
second is called dentatus, because it has a tooth-like
process, upon which the atlas turns. Where the
head is joined with the atlas, there is a hinge joint,
by means of which we can move the head backward
and forward, and up and down. The turning mo-
tion is obtained by means of the tooth-like process
of the dentatus. When we nod, you see we use
the hinge joint. When we turn the head, we
use the dentatus. This tooth-like process is sep-
arated by a broad flat ligament from the spinal
marrow. It is completely shut up from the spinal
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGf. 49
marrow by this ligament. All the vertebrae joined
together make a canal or tube of a somewhat trian-
gular shape, in which the spinal marrow is con-
tained, which appears to be a direct branch
of the brain. The whole course of this canal or
tube is rendered smooth by delicate lining mem-
branes. The spinal marrow lies safely there, mois-
tened by an exudation from the membranes. All
the way down the spine, this medulla, or spinal mar-
row, is giving off nerves to the different parts of the
body. There is a notch in each vertebra, and
when they are put together, two notches coming
together form a hole ; through these holes twenty-
four nerves are given off on each side of the spine.
Between every two bones of the spine a cushion of
a firm, elastic substance is interposed. It is called
intervertebral substance, and somewhat resembles
India rubber. This substance is powerfully elastic,
for though it yields easily to whichever side we in-
cline, it returns to its place again in a moment.
This elasticity is of very great importance ; it
enables us to perform all our bendings and turnings,
and in leaps, shocks and falls, its elasticity prevents
harm to the spine. During the day, these elastic
cushions yield by continual pressure, so that we are
a little shorter at night than in the morning. And
in old age people are shorter than in youth, and the
aged spine is also bent forward by the yielding of
50
LECTURES OK
the intervertebral cushions. Any undue inclination
to either side will cause distortion of the spine from
the yielding of this elastic substance on one side,
whilst it rises on the other. At last the same change
happens to the bones, and the distortion becomes
fixed and not to be changed.
The importance of a knowledge of these facts
concerning the spine will soon be apparent. Just
think of a child sitting in a cramped and unnatural
posture during six hours of each day, in our ill-con-
structed school houses, allowed little time for relaxa-
tion or exercise, and obliged to hold the head down
and study, or pretend to study, when the body is
often in excruciating torment.
Is it wonderful that distortion of the spine, with
all the distress and anguish it brings in its train,
is so common ? The yielding bones of children are
more easily distorted than the bones of older persons.
When the frame is yielding, and the whole system
most susceptible of hurtful impressions, children are
cramped and confined, and exposed to moral and
physical influences eminently calculated to ensure
moral and physical destruction.
Such is the infatuation of many under the old
system of school government, that many parents
and teachers wish their children to sit perfectly still
during school hours, without a smile, a whisper, or
even an inclination to the right hand or left, to
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 51
obtain any thing like rest. 1 rejoice that this iron
system is giving way to the more rational, humane
and life-preserving social system.
Under the old method, little or no interval or
recess must be allowed. Children must be like
posts or blocks in school, and they must not relax
out of school. 1 have seen a good lady, who was
visiting a school, manifest great impatience toward
a little girl, because she moved her hands when
reading, and I have more than once had my dress
tugged by little hands, when company was present,
(who might have been a delight and a treat to the
school by unbending a little, as they would in a
family,) with " When will they go away ? "
Such unnatural constraint ought not to be im-
posed. It makes children unhealthy and unhappy.
They learn to hate, rather than love their teacher.
They hate school they hate often an amiable
teacher, merely because that teacher has not under-
standing or independence enough to pursue a right
course. Many have understanding enough ; but
they have not independence. They dare not face
public opinion. I would not counsel any one to go
against public opinion, unless it be wrong to go with
it. We all love the good opinion of our fellow
creatures ; but when we have a duty to perform,
public opinion will never exonerate us from blame,
if we are such slaves that we dare not discharge
52 LECTURES OH
our duty. True, we should ever act with prudence,
and much may be done silently and without osten-
tation, which could not be done in a different man-
ner.
Exercise is by many considered romping, espe-
cially in schools. It is considered worse than lost
time, and if the teacher exercises with the scholars,
as every teacher will who regards the moral, physi-
cal and intellectual improvement of children and
youth for all these are closely connected such
a procedure is regarded by many as highly impro-
per and even vulgar.
An intelligent teacher once said to me, in refer-
ence to my joining in the exercises of my pupils,
"I don't love to see teachers romp with their
pupils." She was ignorant of anatomy and physi-
ology, and she revolted at the idea of mingling in
the sports of her pupils, not reflecting that it is
highly important in a moral as well as a physical
point of view. By mingling in the exercises of a
school, a teacher can control and direct them can
see that the exercise is neither too violent or too
long continued can by well-timed caution and
reproof keep unkindness and ill feeling in check
and by encouraging innocent mirth and cheerful-
ness, add greatly to the common stock of health and
happiness. And the love and respect children feel
for instructors who thus teach them how to exercise
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 53
and develops their bodies, as well as their minds,
are very great. And if a teacher is a Physiologist,
as every teacher ought to be, the pupils will thus
learn much of Anatomy and Physiology.
It will be evident to all, that when scholars, young
or old, are confined in school to uncomfortable
benches, the evil is greatly increased, if their clothes
are too tight : and how few dress sufficiently loose
for the purposes of health and comfort. More of
this, however, hereafter. But who that for one
moment contemplates the abuses to which our spe-
cies is subjected, would not exclaim, in bitterness of
spirit, Alas, for outraged humanity !
There are many other methods for procuring dis-
tortion of the spine. One is to sit at embroidery.
Any steady, trying, sedentary labor may produce
distortion. Young people whose frames are hardly
developed, and whose bones are yielding, sit much
in this manner, with their dress fitted tightly to their
forms, or rather their forms fitted to their close dress,
in a manner most destructive to health.
O that the customs of society would let females
out of prison. O that they might be allowed to
rid themselves of the torment and torture of a
style of dress fit only for Egyptian mummies.
And will our countrywomen ever be such servile
slaves to customs they might reform ? Will they
always ape the wasp, when the freedom of grace
54 LECTURES ON
and ease are within their reach ? The free, full
and swelling waist, the graceful folds of the floating
robe, with its true Roman elegance, must these
ever be mere ideal goods ? Will not American females
rise in the full vigor of intellectual majesty, and hunt
from society constraint and compression, and the
untold anguish they produce?
But what avails the Roman style of dress, if our
waists must be cramped beneath its swelling folds ?
I have no patience with the world : man, on whom
the noble gift of reason was bestowed to improve
his condition, makes himself more wretched, more
to be pitied than the lowest animal. Why is it so ?
It is because, though made " upright, he has sought
out many inventions."
The ribs are twenty-four in number twelve on
each side. They are joined to the vertebrae by
regular hinges, which allow of short motions. They
are joined to the sternum or breast bone, by carti-
lages. Seven of the ribs are called true ribs, be-
cause their cartilages join directly with the sternum ;
three are called false ribs, because they are joined
by cartilage with each other, and not directly with
the sternum. There are two called "floating ribs,"
because they have no connection by cartilage or
otherwise with the sternum. The sternum is the
breast bone. It completes the cavity of the chest,
defends the heart, forms a place of attachment for
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 55
the ribs, and a fulcrum for the clavicle or collar
bone to roll on. The sternum in youth consists of
several pieces, which unite in after life, so as to
leave but three pieces, and one of these is a carti-
laginous point, called the ensiform cartilage. This
cartilage in youth is easily bent out of shape, and a
permanent displacement of it, with very injurious
results, may take place from leaning much against
the sharp edge of a bench or desk at school, lacing
the clothes too tightly, &tc.
The clavicle or collar bone is placed at the root of
the neck, above the breast. It extends from the tip
of the shoulder to the upper part of the sternum. It
is named clavicle, from its resemblance to an old
fashioned key. It is useful as an arch or brace, to
keep the shoulders from falling in. The scapula or
shoulder blade is a very curious bone. This bone
is merely laid upon the chest, connected to the clav-
icle by its acromial process, and by a capsular liga-
ment with the humerus. It is bedded in the flesh and
moves and plays freely by means of muscles. The
socket where the head of the humerus or upper
bone of the arm fits in, is quite shallow and allows
of free motion. The whole scapula is covered with
broad flat muscles, [by muscles you will understand
flesh,] which move the shoulder in various direc-
tions. This freedom of motion depends on a con-
struction of the joint, which renders the shoulder
56 LECTURES ON
more liable to dislocations than the other joints.
The joint of the shoulder slips out more easily than
the other joints, yet it is often very difficult to be
set, and it sometimes requires much skill and great
strength to set the shoulder when dislocated.
Were people fully aware of the wonderful and
intricate machinery of all parts of the human frame,
they would be cautious, they would be more than
cautious, they would revolt from the idea of em-
ploying quacks and " natural bonesetters " to wrench
their limbs, even though by a happy accident these
should at times succeed in getting a bone into place.
Who ever heard of a natural watch-maker, or even
a natural basket-maker 1 These trades require
practice. Men must be educated in them, before
they can become skilful. Yet such is the gullibility
of mankind, that people will submit to have their
bones operated upon by men who know not their
number or position, any more than the quack who
attempted to set an old lady's shoulder. I have for-
gotten whether it was or was not dislocated. Be
that as it may, he undertook to set it. After sun-
dry severe wrenchings he told her he had succeeded
in getting three of the bones into place, and he
thought he should soon set the remainder. Now
if this woman had known the number and position
of the bones, she would have told the quack that he
might have the care of all the bones in her shoulder
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 57
over three, but of no others. But so people are gulled
and abused, because they have not knowledge.
With what pleasing and joyous anticipations do the
friends of science look forward to that period when
this black night of ignorance shall be chased from
our beloved land, and light be poured in, even to
every dark corner.
How can the dawn of this day be hastened ? I
answer, by the efforts of woman : let woman use
her energies, let her attain that moral and intellect-
ual elevation which is her right. Let her attain
that height where men cannot look down upon her,
if they would. Let her repudiate at once and for-
ever those sickly tales of fiction that enervate the
mind, without informing or improving. Let her
nobly resolve that she will have science, that she
will be no longer a plaything, a bauble. When
woman thus arises in the greatness of her intellectual
strength, then there will be a new era iXtbe history
of our world.
The bones of the arm are threein number. The
upper or os humeri, or humerus as it is commonly
called, has at its upper end a round knob or head,
which fits into the socket of the scapula or shoulder
bone. Though this socket is shallow, yet the acro-
mion and coracoid processes keep the arm bone or
humerus in its place. These two processes alone
must impress the mind with the idea that wisdom
5
58 LECTURES OS
and design made us what we are. Between the
elbow and the wrist are two bones, the radius and
the ulna. The radius is so called from its resem-
blance to the spoke of a wheel, and the ulna from
its having been used as a measure.
The radius is connected with the wrist, and turns
along with it, in all its rotatory motions. The ulna
belongs more especially to the elbow joint. So you
see that the bending motion of the arm is provided
for by the ulna, as that forms a hinge joint at the
elbow, and the turning motion by means of the
radius, which is joined at the wrist and then is laid
on the ulna, where it turns. The radius belongs
entirely to the wrist, and the ulna entirely to the
elbow, yet they have never been known to be sep-
arated in the living frame by any accidental force,
however great.
The carpus, or wrist, consists of eight bones, all
movable, yet closely packed in. The metacarpus,
or bones of the hand, are five ; the remaining bones
of the hand are fourteen. Much has been said of
the importance of the human hand. Little do we
ordinarily realize of its immense value. Man is born
naked, yet capable of clothing himself. But how
would he clothe and feed himself without hands ?
It is difficult to conceive, at once, how superlatively
wretched the human race would be without hands,
and how soon the race would become extinct.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 59
What a blessing is the human hand ! Let us real-
ize the greatness of the gift, and never employ our
hands in any evil or useless work ; but let the works
of our hands ever be such, that the great Giver of
every good can look upon them with approbation.
We now come to speak of the bones of the pel-
vis. It is a circle of large and strong bones stand-
ing between the trunk and the lower extremities. It
is called pelvis, perhaps, from its general shape,
which somewhat resembles a dish pelvis being
the Latin word for vessel. Perhaps it may be from
its containing so much in its cavity, that it is called
pelvis or vessel. It is formed of four large bones,
the os sacrum behind, the os coccyges below, and the
ossa innominata at the sides. The ossa innominata,,
or nameless bones, have sockets to receive the hip.
The sacrum forms the lowest point of the back bone.
It is perforated with holes : through these holes are
transmitted a bunch of nerves.
The tfr'gh bone, or femur as it is called, is the
largest bone of the body ; it supports the whole
weignt of the body. The body is seldom so placed
as to rest equally on both the thigh bones. Com-
monly it is so inclined as to throw the whole weight
on one side. You see then the necessity that this
bone should be very strong. It may well be said
that the human frame, as a whole, and in all its
parts, is a masterpiece of design and contrivance.
60 LECTURES ON
The head of the thigh bone or femur is the most
perfect in the human body. It is completely re-
ceived into a deep socket in the ossa innominata.
It is naturally, without the help of ligaments, the
strongest joint in the body. But, as a farther secu-
rity, there is a very strong ligament attached to the
round head of the femur, and this grows fast to the
bottom of the socket, and thus so firmly secures the
joint that it is seldom dislocated. You see how this
joint might be slipped out of its place, by some of
our varied movements, were it not tied in.
In the leg, between the knee and ankle, are two
bones called the tibia and fibula. The knee joint
is very curious. It is not a ball and socket joint,
neither is it a proper hinge joint, guarded on either
side with projecting points, like the ankle. The
bones at the knee are merely put together and then
secured by means of ligaments. These constitute
its strength, and by means of these it is the strong-
est joint in the whole body. In those who abuse
themselves by improper living and habits, thess liga-
ments are diseased. You are aware how ten\ble
diseases of the knee are, and by preventing exercise,
they cause many other truly distressing disorders.
The tibia is a very large bone, and needs to be,
as it bears the whole weight of the body ; ihejlbu-
la being placed by its side, to strengthen the leg
and form the ankle joint.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 61
The patella, or knee pan, is a curious little bone,
which is a kind of pulley, that enables the muscles
to act with great power.
There are seven bones in the ankle, five in the
metatarsus, and fourteen phalanges in the foot.
The bones of the foot are fastened together very
strongly, by means of a gristle. This gristle yields
so as to enable us to tread with equal ease on level
or uneven surfaces. The arching of the foot has
been regarded as a very curious contrivance, and it
is indeed curious. For a moment let us suppose
our feet made of one piece of bone, or that we had
wooden feet. How very difficult we should find it
to walk ! And how very difficult many do find
walking, from the fancy they have taken to im-
itate the Chinese ladies ! Why do our females
wish to be heathen?, while living in what is called
a Christian land ? Why mar the fairest and most
useful part of Heaven's grand mechanism, by such
ridiculous fashions ?
A great physician once said that " snuff would
never injure any one's brains, because any one who
had brains would not take it." But we know bet-
ter than this ; we know that sensible people are as
often the slaves of bad habits as those who are de-
ficient in sense. Sensible ladies will pinch their
feet, under the false notion that it is genteel to have
small feet. Genteel ! Is it genteel to have corns,
62 LECTURES ON
to have a shapeless mass of a foot, that would
frighten an anatomist, or that he would at least set
down as a nondescript ? Is it genteel to have im-
peded circulation, and all its train of horrors? Oh,
when will ladies of sense " come to their senses,"
and leave off tight shoes, and the thousand torments
which they inflict upon themselves, at fashion's bid-
ding ? In the present mode of dressing, or rather
compressing feet, we have something very anala-
gous to wooden feet. Ladies who wear fashionable
shoes, would be very unwilling to have wooden
feet. They would decide at once, that there would
be no elasticity in such feet.
Then, in the name of common sense and common
humanity, why squeeze the feet till they are well
nigh as inefficient as the foot of a Chinese, or a
wooden foot ? Ladies, think me not too severe
upon this wicked fashion ; I realize at least a part
of its evils. I know something, to say the least, of
the injurious effects of impeded circulation, and you
would know, if you would tie a cord round a limb
so tight as wholly to stop the circulation of the
blood. You would be satisfied that the death of
the limb would be the consequence. Now by com-
pressing the feet, we produce bad effects in propor-
tion to the pressure applied. But you will under-
stand this more fully, when you have become ac-
quainted with the blood and its circulation. But
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 63
trust me, ladies, this fashion of pinching the feet is
cruel, unnatural and dangerous ; besides, it destroys
elegance in the walk, and makes our ladies totter
and hobble along like a cripple, or a fettered crim-
inal. Let us have more room in this world.
All parts of the human system bear marks of
wonder-working power and design. You will recol-
lect that in speaking of the joints, I have often
spoken of the ligaments which help to form the
joints. These ligaments are of different kinds.
There are tendons, which are short, strong cords,
fastened to the ends of the muscles, and then to the
bones. Had the muscles been continued and fas-
tened to the bones, our joints would have been un-
seemly and misshapen masses, and would not have
had the strength they now have. There are other
ligaments which arise from the membrane which
surrounds the bones, which is called the periosteum.
These ligaments form bags, which completely shut
up the joints. These, from a peculiar fluid which
they exude, and which lubricates the tendons,
muscles and bones, are called bur SOB. mucosa or
mucous bags.
The bursa or bags and the capsules of the joint
are much the same thing. They pour out a fluid
called synovia upon their inner surface, which not
only keeps them moist and supple, but as it were
oils the joints, and prevents their wearing out. It
64 LECTURES ON
is very evident dry bones would soon wear out ;
but such wonderful provision is made for our nu-
merous motions, that our joints last as long as we
last to use them unless people abuse themselves
by taking improper food and drink, - and by other
improper habits, so as to bring upon themselves
that disease which is characterized by a deficiency
of this synovia or lubricating fluid. In this disorder
the bones grate as the heads of the joints rub togeth-
er, and those who thus suffer resort perhaps to doc-
tors, perhaps to quack medicines, to get cured of
what they should have known how to prevent.
But it is to be feared that some will not try to pre-
vent these evils, even when taught. I once saw a
man climb with much difficulty into a stage coach.
He had the gout, and could with difficulty get up
the steps of the coach. But as soon as he was
seated he commenced a tirade against plain food.
He declared himself temperate with regard to drink.
By this he probably meant that he drank no ardent
spirits. But he had managed to get the gout, with-
out ardent spirits. He declaimed against a plain
way of living, talked of Grahamism, saw-dust bread,
&tc. A lady who sat next him, cast a significant
glance at his swollen limbs, and remarked, in sub-
stance, that plain food was excellent for lameness.
He replied that he would not live on such food, if
he knew it would prolong his days. He was for a
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 65
" short life and a merry one." 1 confess I thought
I could not be very merry if I had been afflicted
with gout as badly as he was. But it is a solemn
thing that men should think they have a right to
squander life because it is theirs. They would
think it wrong to commit suicide, by hanging,
or drowning, or severing the jugular vein ; but they
seem to have no idea that they are as verily guilty
when they indulge in those habits and that manner
of living that will assuredly shorten life. When
will people be aroused to view these subjects as
they ought ? When will they consider that as
great an amount of guilt is attached to the man
who gluts or poisons himself to death, as to one who
cuts his throat or hangs himself? I need not to go
into a labored argument to prove that temperance
is a virtue. You all believe it it is no new doc-
trine. It is inculcated in the Holy Scriptures ; it
has been recommended by great men in different
ages of the world. The greatest medical writers
have insisted on temperance. I do not use the
word temperance in its popular or technical sense.
I mean moderation in eating as well as in drinking
and in all things.
Sir Isaac Newton, when he applied himself to
the study, investigation and analysis of the theory
of light and colors, to quicken his faculties and fix
his attention confined himself to a small quantity
66 LECTURES ON
of bread, during all the time, with a little sack and
water. Many instances might be given of great
men who have thus lived.
But let us return again for a few moments to the
bones. The long bones are hollow, and their cav-
ities contain marrow, which is solid oil. Authors
have differed about the use of this. Some have
thought it intended to lubricate the bones. One
eminent anatomist seems to think it more of an
accidental deposition than others allow. Some
think it intended to support the body in seasons of
privation, when no food can be obtained, or in sick-
ness, when no food can be taken. I have heard it
called by an excellent anatomist, " a granary for
the support of the body in seasons of sickness and
privation."
We have abundant reason to believe, that whether
we understand its uses or not, it is indeed a wise
provision, and answers a valuable end. It consists
of bunches of globules arranged on a kind of stock,
and when shaken out resembles a cluster of grapes
on the stem. These globules, when seen by a
microscope, are round and white, seeming like little
pearls. Each stalk is an artery, and a twig of the
artery goes to each little globule. Each artery
secretes and fills the cell of its globule with marrow.
It may now, perhaps, be well to review a little
what we have learned. We have considered, first,
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 67
the formation of bone. We have seen how it is
deposited at 6rst, particle by particle, by means of
arteries. We have attended to the shape and uses
of many of the bones, and have seen how they
may become diseased, and what are the causes of
disease in them. The whole head above the neck
consists of sixty-three bones. The spine or back
bone, contains twenty-four separate bones ; these
are called vertebrae. At the bottom of the spine
are four more. There are twenty-four ribs twelve
on each side. Then there is the breast bone or
sternum. A complete human skeleton contains
two hundred and forty bones. The study of the
nature and structure of bones is called osteology.
The study of the muscles only is called myology.
The study of all parts of the body, bones, muscles,
tendons, nerves, brain, blood vessels, heart, lungs,
skin, &ic., is called anatomy. Physiology is the
study of the living animal, and the uses of all these
parts, and how they act.
68 LECTURES ON
LECTURE IV.
MUSCLES, EYE, EAR AND NOSE.
WE now come to speak of muscles. Muscles
are the lean part of flesh what is often called lean
meat. They are red, owing to the blood that cir-
culates through them. You can soak or boil the
blood out, so as to leave the muscles nearly white.
The muscles are the instruments of motion. Per-
haps many of you are not aware that your bones
are clothed with flesh or muscles, to enable you to
move. You could not move a finger, a hand, or
even open your eyes, without the help of muscles.
Sometimes the muscles grow into the bones directly.
They seem to be glued on, by means of the perios-
teum, but generally they end in short tendons, which
grow to the bone, and thus fasten the muscles.
These tendons are short, strong straps, and you are
familiar with them in flesh, though not by this name.
They are sometimes called "whit-leather," or
" packwax." The tendons in a turkey's leg above
the knee have hardly escaped your attention, for
they are almost as tough as leather. I once saw a
lady offended for life, with a gentleman, because he
helped her to a turkey's leg. She thought the offer
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.
69
of such a bundle of tendons an insult. The mus-
cles usually terminate in these tendons, and these
grow on to the bones ; but sometimes the muscles
grow directly to the bones. Motion is performed
by the contracting or shrinking of the muscles.
Being fastened to the bones at each end, if they
shrink, you will at once perceive that they will draw
one bone up towards the other. Thus the biceps
70 LECTURES ON
muscle, as it is called, is fastened to the shoulder
and one of the bones of the forearm, and you can see
how it must by shrinking draw up the arm toward the
shoulder. So it is with the muscles of the leg. We
wish to lift our feet, and the muscles shrink, and we
are enabled to do it. So it is with every motion ; we
are enabled to perform it by means of muscles
even to raising the eyelash, or contracting the brow.
There is a story in that excellent little work on
anatomy, called the " House 1 Live in," which so
admirably illustrates the action of muscles, that I
cannot forbear repeating it, even though familiar to
many of you. " In front of St. Peter's church at
Rome, stands an obelisk of red Egyptian granite,
124 feet high. It was brought from Egypt to Rome,
by order of the Roman Emperor Caligula. How-
ever, it lay partly buried in the earth, where it was
laid down, till about 250 years ago, when Pope
Sixtus V., by the help of forty-one strong machines,
eight hundred men, and one hundred and sixty
horses, succeeded, in eight days, in getting it out of
the ground. But it took four months more to re-
move it fifty or sixty rods farther, to its present sit-
uation. When they reached the spot, the grand
point was to raise it. They erected a pedestal, or
foot piece for it to stand on, shaped like four lions ;
by means of powerful machines, strong ropes and
tackle, they succeeded in placing the bottom on the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 71
pedestal. Then they began with their machinery
to raise it. But when it was nearly up, so that it
would almost stand, the ropes, it is said, had stretch-
ed so much more than the master workman had ex-
pected, that it would go no farther. What was to
be done ? Fontana, the master workman, had for-
bidden all talking, and they now stood holding upon
the tackles, so silently, you might have heard a
whisper. Suddenly an English sailor cried out,
'Wet the ropes.' This was no sooner said than
done ; when, to the joy and surprise of every one,
the ropes shrunk just enough to raise the obelisk to
its present place, where it has stood nearly 250
years."
At first thought, this story may not seem to you
to have any thmg to do with the action of the
muscles. But the muscles shrink to draw up or
move a limb, or any part of the body, much as
these wet ropes did, to move the obelisk upward,
so that it stood upright on its pedestal. Muscles
contribute much to beauty. They clothe the bones,
which without the muscles seem unshapely and
almost frightful.
It is thought by some that fat contributes to beauty.
Some fat may round the form, and make it look bet-
ter ; but much fat is a sign of disease. The ideas
of ill health and fat are so associated in my mind,
that I dislike very much to see fat people. A strange
72 LECTURES ON
ignorance pervades community upon this subject.
People are not aware that fat in excess, is a disease,
as much as dropsy ; and that it is ranked among
diseases by medical men.
I am not prepared to say how much fat belongs
naturally to the system in a state of health;
but I believe the quantity which 'is usually taken
as the standard of health, is very far from it.
A child may be fed on improper food so that an
excess of fat may be generated. At the same time
proper exercise may be neglected ; this will increase
the deposition of fat. Bathing the whole surface of
the body may also be neglected. The pores thus
become closed, and the dissolved oil, or fat, has no
chance to pass off with the perspiration. Thus the
child becomes diseased, loaded with fat, and is re-
garded by thflse around as a "very healthy child,
else how could it be so fat ? " The child may have
very ill turns, and even at times be dangerously ill,
but the friends console themselves with the idea
that it is natural for children to have ill turns.
" Why," say they, " all children have sick spells."
And then the child looks so fat and healthy, this is
surely a comfort. It may be a friend who is a physi-
ologist, and consequently a plain liver, has a very
healthy child, but it is not fat. Plain vegetable
food will not make much fat. " What a miserable
looking child ! " says one, " How poor the little
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 73
creature is ! " says another, sorrowfully. " Starva-
tion, Grahamism ! " says a third, in no very gentle
tones.
Fat often concretes on the surface of the skin,
becomes mixed with hardened rnucus, and forms
those little pimples so common on the face. A
plain, simple diet, and frequent ablutions, will in
time wholly cure this disagreeable eruption. I
knew a young man, who was a very gross liver, f
whose face was one continued cluster of these pim-
ples, with their disgusting yellow heads. He was
so proud, he could not endure the sight of his face,
and he determined to abjure his gluttony, to im-
prove his countenance. He succeeded, by plain
diet, and bathing the whole surface of his body,
j i
in getting quite a smooth, handsome face. But in the
mean time, he lost a large amount of fat, and be-
came quite lean. But the best of the story remains
to be told. He had very little mind previous to this
alteration ; or rather, such was the state of his body,
that his mind was weighed down and cumbered,
and had no chance for action. He was a dull,
poor scholar, and his friends despaired of his ever
becoming useful to himself or others. But after
this change in his habits, he became as studious
as he had before been dull and idle. He made
rapid progress in study, and his whole being and
character seemed altered.
6
74 LECTURES ON
Fat is a bad conductor of heat. It keeps the
body warm. Those who have much fat perspire
easily, and are almost always too warm. Where
the secretion of fat is beyond a moderate quantity,
say about one-twentieth part of the whole frame,
the play of the different organs is impeded ; the
size of the blood vessels is diminished ; the pulse is
oppressed ; the breathing becomes hard and diffi-
cult. There is an accumulation of blood in the
head and heart, because it is with difficulty that the
blood can flow through the oppressed and compress-
ed vessels. There is a general tendency to drow-
siness and palpitation, and there is always danger of
apoplexy. Fat sometimes overloads one organ,
sometimes another, and sometimes the whole system.
It is regarded by medical men as a dropsy of oil
instead of water.
John Mason Good, the justly celebrated author
of " The Study of Medicine," Book of Nature,"
Sic., says, with regard to the cure of obesity, or fat,
" that as a life of indolence and indulgence in eat-
ing and drinking is highly contributory to obesity,
the remedial treatment should consist in the use of
severe, regular and habitual exercise, a hard bed,
little sleep, and dry and scanty food, derived from
vegetables alone."
11 Generally speaking," says the same great
author, " the diet and regimen just recommended,
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 75
with a spare allowance of water, will be sufficient
to bring down the highest degree of adipose corpu-
lency." " Of this," says Good, " we have a
striking example in the case of Wood, of Billerica,
in Essex. Born of intemperate parents, he was
accustomed to indulge himself in excessive eating,
drinking and indolence, till in the forty-fourth year
of his age, he became unwieldy from his bulk, was
almost suffocated, labored under very ill health from
indigestion, and was subject to fits of gout and epi-
lepsy. One would think all these enough for one
person to bear. Fortunately a friend pointed out to
him the life of Cornaro. He instantly resolved to
take Cornaro for his model, and, if necessary, to
surpass his abridgements. With great prudence he
made his change from a highly superfluous to a very
spare diet, gradually first diminishing his ale to a
pint a day, and using much less animal food, till at
length finding the plan work wonders, in his renewed
vigor of mind as of body, he limited himself to a
simple pudding made of sea biscuit, flour, and
skimmed milk, of which he allowed himself about
one and a half pounds, about four or five o'clock,
for his breakfast, and the same quantity for his din-
ner. Besides this he took nothing, either solid or
fluid, for he had at length brought himself to abstain
even from water, and found himself easier without
it. He went to bed about eight or nine o'clock,
76 LECTURES ON
rarely slept for more than five or six hours, and
hence usually rose at two o'clock in the morning,
and employed himself in laborious exercise of some
kind or other, till his breakfast. By this regimen,
he reduced himself to a middle-sized man of firm
flesh, well colored complexion, and sound health."
This course, or something analagous to it, Dr.
Good recommended to the famous Lambert, of
London, of whom it was facetiously said, that he
was the greatest man in England. He Weighed
seven hundred and thirty-nine pounds. But Lam-
bert did not try the experiment of curing himself
by this simple, self-denying course, and he died in
about three years after consulting Dr. Good.
It is presumed those who wish to become lean
will not despair of accomplishing their object, after
hearing the case of Wood of B llerica. If they will
add bathing to their abstinence, they may be sure
of success in time. Bathing keeps open the pores,
and gives the dissolved oil a chance to pass off \\ ith
the perspiration. Many people seem to suppose
fat people and fat children are healthy. I have
heard the remark made of fat persons, " They
complain a great deal, but they look well ;" and
children, too, who are fat, are called " pictures of
health." People ought to be better informed on
this subject. I would have no one get the idea
that all fat people are gluttons, or that all gluttons
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 77
are fat. Some people have a peculiar tendency to
grow fat, even on a very small quantity of poor
food. Let such bathe the whole surface of the
body often, and use active exercise. Others will
remain poor, when they take large quantities of
food. When food is taken in excess, it breaks
down the powers of the stomach, and disables it
from assimilating nourishment sufficient for the body.
Hence great eaters are sometimes very poor and
thin.
We now come to consider the skin. This is
compressed cellular substance. By cellular sub-
stance I mean a membrane composed of little cells.
The skin consists of several layers. The outermost
is the cuticle, or epidermis. It is a dry thin mem-
brane, a little like gauze, and is, as far as we know,
insensible. This is the thin skin that is raised by a
blister, only it is very much thickened by the in-
flammation. This outer layer is a protection to
what is beneath. It is described by physiologists
as full of pores for the passage of hairs, and for the
orifices of exhalent and absorbent vessels.
The rete mucosum, or mucous web, is next be-
neath the scarf skin. In this the coloring matter
seems to be placed. It is white in the European,
and black in the African, &c. It is seen through
the cuticle, as easily as a red cheek is seen through
a white veil. Beneath this is the corpus papillare.
78 LECTURES ON
This is formed by the extremities of nerves and
blood vessels. Innermost of all is the corium, or
true skin. This forms a firm layer, and makes the
whole of the necessary solidity. If this true skin
is destroyed by any means, such as a burn or an
injury, it never grows again. So should any of you
hear of an ointment that will heal a burn, without a
scar, you may be sure it will be of no use, if the
true skin is burned through ; and if it is not destroy-
ed, the burn will of course heal without a scar,
whether you apply the ointment or not. Many
people believe that an ointment made of white
clover blossoms will heal a burn, however deep,
without a scar. But this belief shows their igno-
rance.
Some people are much troubled by slight scratches
and cutaneous Injuries. " I have a dreadful humor,"
says one ; "my flesh will not heal." Now it is a
fact tnat is independent of any human testimony for
or against it, that plain temperate living, with bath-
ing, has a tendency to cure the very worst of what
are called "humors." There may be a constitu-
tional taint, which it may be difficult to eradicate,
but this, if taken early enough, may be eradicated
by proper regimen. Those who are thoroughly
temperate in their food and drink, as to quality and
quantity, who daily bathe the whole surface of the
body, and who take proper exercise, need not fear
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 79
" humors." They will not long have a " terrible
humor " to prevent their flesh from healing, when
injured. But those who indulge in warm slops of
whatever kind, whether poisonous or otherwise,
take much animal food, oil and butter, fee., and
allow their pores to become closed, by neglect of
bathing, must expect humors, and they will have
them, whether they expect them or not. I once
saw a gentleman who was terribly afflicted with a
cutaneous eruption, which rendered his life extreme-
ly disagreeable. He was a gross liver, and at one
time it was aggravated to such a degree as to be-
come intolerable, by the use of dough nuts. He
was quite fond of this very objectionable kind of
food, and took them freely at almost every meal.
But his " humor " became so troublesome and dis-
tressing, that he was obliged to pay attention to it.
He was induced to try the Graham system of liv-
ing. He left the use of greasy food, and practised
bathing daily. He confined himself, with very little
exception, to plain vegetable food, and in less than
a year the cutaneous eruptions disappeared, and his
skin was as soft and fair almost as that of a babe.
This gentleman has since returned occasionally to
his former manner of living, but the use of oily food
always induces a return of his humor.
Cutaneous eruptions sometimes appear, when
bathing is first commenced, where they have not
80
LECTURES ON
before existed. The person may be frightened at
the idea that bathing causes humors. I have no
doubt but the bathing produces the eruption, by
opening the long closed pores, and causing a deter-
mination toward the surface of hurtful particles that
had been festering in the system, or seeking an
outlet some other way. But the eruption will not
long continue. Healthy and natural action will
soon ensue, and the humor will disappear. I know
very well that physicians have been found ignorant
enough to say that animal food, oil, butter, &c.,
should be eaten by those afflicted with scrofula and
other humors ; but this doctrine is so repugnant to
common sense and common observation, that it does
not need a serious refutation.
A word upon the use and abuse of the hair.
The skull is clothed with hair, which serves a very
important purpose in shielding the head, by dead-
ening the force of blows. The skull consists of
two tables, with a net work of vessels interposed.
This cancelli, or net work, serves to nourish the
bones, and at the same time keeps the inner table
of bone from feeling the full force of a blow on the
outer. The outer table of the skull is more yield-
ing than the inner, more tough and fibrous. The
helmet of the Roman soldier was made of steel, and
lined with leather, and had hair on the outside ;
without this lining on the inner side, and the pro-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 81
tection of hair on the outer, the blow of a sword
on the helmet would have brought the wearer to
the ground, by the mere force of percussion extend-
ing to" the brain. Now the skull is so contrived ; it
is lined with a soft material, and the outside is pro-
tected with hair.
The hair needs much attention, to keep it clean
and soft. It is much influenced by the health of
the body. You know that after a severe fit of ill-
ness, fever, &c., the hair falls off.
People are often led to try this thing and that
thing, to keep the hair from falling off, and to make
it grow, after it has fallen off. Doubtless there are
many thousand pounds of hog's fat sold every year,
as bear's grease, &c., to cause the hair to grow.
Correct habits, and daily washing the head with
cold water, and combing it with a fine comb, are
the best preservatives and restoratives of hair.
If any one's hair should grow whilst putting on
these quack ointments, which after all are only
common oil and fat disguised, they may rest assured
that it would have grown equally well without
them.
It is extremely desirable that the head should be
as thoroughly washed as any part of the body, and
that, too, every day. When the hair is very thick,
the roots can be washed without wetting the entire
length of the hair. The outside of the head has
82 LECTURES ON
much to do with the inside, whether we know
it or not ; and serious mischief often results from
suppressed perspiration in the head. Much evil
results from loading the head with caps and hoods.
We should dress the head as light and cool as
we can, and be comfortable. It is of vast impor-
tance, and those who pursue a contrary course may
have ague, tic doloreux, and even inflamma-
tion of the brain, as a reward for following ab-
surd fashions. But may we not hope yet to see
fashions in accordance with the physiological laws
of our nature? A majority of the present fashions
are an outrage on humanity, and many of them as
repugnant to health as they could well be contrived,
even had the contrivers sought after the most dele-
terious mode.
Let us for a moment take a view of some of the
" comforts " of a martyr to fashion. See her head
loaded with hair, natural and artificial, and over
this a cap heavy with ornaments, and under it ex-
halations, and foreign mixtures, in the shape of hair
oil, perfumes, &c. Over all is a large, heavy, hot
bonnet ; and drawn closely over the face is the veil,
to keep out the vital air from the poor compressed
lungs.
This is a sad picture to a physiologist ; for he is
thinking of the evils that result from these fashions.
But let us travel downward. The upper portion
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 83
of the arm is often squeezed, so as almost to stop
the circulation of the blood, and make the hands
purple. Then there is the waist screwed as in a
vice. The lungs compressed, the circulation of the
blood impeded, the vessels of the lungs collapsed,
and all the internal viscera displaced, tortured by
compression, and thrown into confusion. Add to
this the enormous load of clothes worn by almost
all our ladies, and the pain of tight shoes, and we
have an amount of tortures that would move a heart
of stone. Should a missionary describe such cruel-
ties as existing among heathens, we should pity
them most sincerely, though we should feel that it
was a disgrace, even to the darkened daughters of
Hindostan. Let no one suppose I have now done
with tight lacing : by no means ; I intend to por-
tray its horrors far more fully and particularly. I
mean to show the evil in all its bearings, as plainly
as 1 am capable of doing it, hereafter.
We now come to the examination of the eye.
The eye is a bag, or sack, containing a clear, thick
liquid, somewhat like the white of an egg. The
outer coat of the eye, that which is exposed to the
contact of the air, is the conjunctiva, a mucous
membrane. The outside of the eye is called the
sclerotic coat. This is a thin, white membrane.
It is strong and firm, and as dense as tanned lea-
ther. It is what we call the white of the eye.
84 LECTURES ON
There is an opening in the centre, where the cornea
is set. It is placed here much like a watch crystal,
and is as transparent.
The cornea is so hard and firm, as sometimes to
bend the point of the operator's knife, when ex-
tracting cataract. Beneath the cornea is the cho-
roid coat, which is the medium for the blood ves-
sels. Beneath the choroids is the pigmentum ni-
grum, or black paint ; this substance closely re-
sembles black paint, and is deposited on the inner
side of the choroid. It can easily be washed off.
The iris is the colored circle which surrounds the
pupil of the eye. It is a membrane hung before
the crystalline lens. The iris divides the liquid or
humor, as it is called, into two parts ; the part
which is before the iris is called aqueous, or watery
humor, and the part back of the iris is called vitre-
ous or glassy humor. The crystalline lens is a
small body, convex on both sides, clear like the
humor, though much harder, and lies directly back
of the iris, and swims as it were in the liquid or
humor.
Lastly, the optic nerve is spread out at the back
part of the eye. The rays of light pass through
the cornea, aqueous humor, crystalline lens, and
vitreous humor, and fall on the retina, which is the
expansion of the optic nerve, at the back of the eye.
I have thus briefly given the anatomy of that
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 85
" world of wonders," the eye. The eyes may be
injured in various ways. They suffer much from
sympathy with a diseased body. They suffer from
over exertion, and from being exerted in too strong
or too weak light, and from sudden alternations of
light. Going suddenly from bright light into dark-
ness, or from darkness into light, injures the eyes.
They make ereat exertion to accommodate them-
selves to the different degrees of light, and this
violent exertion injures them. Light is the proper
stimulus of the eye, but when too much stimulus of
any kind is taken, it is an injury.
Though we may bring ourselves to bear an ex-
cess of light, and also to see with very little, still it
is better ever to keep in a medium. " It is record-
ed of the Emperor Tiberius, that he could see in
the dark. LeCat tells us of a young woman, who
could see at midnight, as well as at noon. Persons
shut in dark prisons, learn to distinguish the mi-
nutest objects, the absence of the stimulus of light
causing an expansion of the pupil of the eye. In
the Journal des Scavans, for 1677, we find the
case of a musician who had one of his eyes struck
with a lute string rebounding when it broke from
being screwed too intensely. The eye inflamed,
and the patient found, to his astonishment, that with
his disorder he had acquired the power of seeing in
the dark, so as to be able to read. He could only
86 LECTURES ON
see in the dark with the inflamed eye, and not with
the other eye."
These examples show the force of education and
habit, for even the eye may be educated to see
with very little light.
Looking into a fire is very injurious to the eyes,
particularly a coal fire. The stimulus of light and
heat united, soon destroys the eyes. Looking at
molten iron will soon destroy the sight. Reading
in the twilight is very injurious to the eyes, as
they are obliged to make great exertion. Reading
or sewing with a side light, injures the eyes, as both
eyes should be exposed to an equal degree of light.
The reason is, the sympathy between the eyes is so
great, that if the pupil of one is dilated by being
kept partially in the shade, the one that is most
exposed cannot contract itself sufficiently for pro-
tection, and will ultimately be injured.
Those who wish to preserve their sight, should
preserve their general health by correct habits, and
give the eyes just work enough, with a due degree
of light.
The eyes of infants should be guarded from strong
light in the night, whether from a lamp or fire.
They are fond of a light, but they should not be
indulged. People are generally sufficiently careful
in guarding infants from light and air in the day time.
The eyelids guard the eyes, in a degree, from the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 87
effects of light ; the eyebrows catch a part of the
dust that would fall in the eye, and the tears wash
out what does get in, and the dirty water is ordina-
rily conducted off through the nose.
We will now pay a little attention to the ear.
The ear consists of two parts, the external and in-
ternal ear. The external ear is concave for the
collection of sound, or rather those vibrations of air
which strike on the tympanum, or drum of the ear.
The tympanum is a thin film, or membrane, drawn
tightly across the passage into the ear, like a drum
head. It is about three-fourths of an inch from the
external opening. This is called tympanum, be-
cause this is the Latin word for drum. The air,
when struck by a sonorous body, vibrates, something
like the vibrations of water when a pebble is thrown
into it. You have seen wave succeed wave, till
they spread to considerable distance, when a peb-
ble was thrown into water. These vibrations of
air strike on the drum of the ear, and produce
sound. The opening into the ear is guarded by a
bitter substance, called ear wax. This is supposed
to keep out insects. No insect can get farther into
the ear than the tympanum, unless there is a hole
through that. People should wash their ears, and
prevent accumulations of ear wai, for these will
sometimes cause partial deafness. I once saw a
lump of ear wax taken from a gentleman's ear, as
88 LECTURES ON
large as a bean, and almost as hard. This had
been very troublesome to him and partially deprived
him of hearing.
Many people have great fear that insects will
get into their ears, especially earwigs. But as no
insect can get further than the tympanum, in a nat-
ural state of that organ, and as that is only three-
fourths of an inch from the external orifice, if they
will wash, or syringe their ears with weak soap
suds, often, they need not fear insects of any kind.
The anatomy of the nose is very curious. It has
cavities to collect odors, as the ear has a cavity to
collect the vibrations of air. The organ of smell
is a mucous membrane, which lines the cavities of
the nose. It is called the schnciderian membrane.
It is highly probable that in a natural state of the
organ of smell, we could detect what would be in-
jurious to us. In a natural state this sense is vastly
more acute, than in the depraved state almost uni-
versal amongst us. The more simple people live,
the more in accordance with the laws of our nature,
the more acute will be the sense of smell.
Some people are fond of scents, that are disagree-
able to others. This does not prove that there is a
natural difference in noses. It merely proves that
the force of habit is great. Some abuse the nose,
and through that the stomach and whole system,
by taking snuff. This practice not only destroys
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 89
the sensibility of the olfactory nerve, but produces
many evils. I can speak feelingly on this subject,
having been in this hurtful, filthy and wicked habit
seven years ; and it is now ten years since I became
emancipated. Snuff has a powerful effect upon the
nervous system, owing to its deadly narcotic prop-
erties. It very much 'injures digestion, by being
conveyed into the stomach, with the saliva. The
stomach also suffers from sympathy with other
parts, which the snuff more immediately affects.
Dizziness, weakness, nervous prostration, trem-
bling, sickness at the stomach, are all consequences
of snuff-taking, with numerous other evils, that I
have no time to enumerate. I believe snuff-takers
are well aware of the injurious effects of snuff. But
they will not own even to themselves the mischief
it is doing them. They excuse themselves for in-
dulging in the practice in various ways. One has
a humor, and a physician has recommended snuff.
Such a physician ought to be I will not say in
the state prison, but more honest or better informed.
Another has the catarrh, and takes snuff for that.
The very thing to perpetuate and aggravate any
disorder of the head is snuff. Another has weak
eyes, and she tries to think, and make others think,
that she takes snuff to improve her eyesight. Half
the time these excuses do not satisfy those who
make them. But they feel so guilty for indulging
7
90 LECTURES ON
in the habit, that they want an excuse. I believe
my excuse was weak eyes, but the real reason was
I had got imperceptibly into this wretched habit,
and had learned to love snuff. I suffered all the
evils I have enumerated, from its use, and many
more. I knew it was killing me, and yet, like the
poor enslaved drunkard, I kept on. And knowing
this, was I scarcely less guilty ? I know the cases
are not parallel, because the drunkard abuses others
beside himself. The snuff-taker does not, except
it be by peevishness, and restlessness, induced by
the use of snuff. But have we a right to squander
and throw away life, by indulgence in such habits ?
If we shorten life, and the habitual snuff-taker will
very much shorten life, even though all her other
habits are correct, I say if we thu? shorten life, are
we not verily guilty in the sight of the Almighty ?
The sickness, the misery that result from its use
are very hard to bear, and very much abridge our
usefulness. To say the least of snuff-taking, it is
a horrid waste of health, of comfort, of usefulness,
and life ; and beside the legitimate effects of the
tobacco, there are other sources of mischief to be
found in snuff. It is said that one species of mag-
got fly lays its eggs in snuff. Should these eggs
hatch in the head, the consequence must be terrible.
Pungent odors, of any kind, have a tendency to
injure the delicate lining membrane of the nose.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 91
Smelling bottles stimulate this membrane very
greatly ; and excess of stimulation is very hurtful,
as it exhausts vital power. Smelling bottles proba-
bly cause one to take cold in the head, because the
schneiderian membrane is over stimulated, and
there is a consequent relaxation, a falling below the
natural tone of the organ, and it is thus deprived
of its power of resistance ; and thus those who use
smelling bottles have colds and inflammation of the
mucous membrane, that lines the cavities of the
nose. J have no doubt thousands use smellin^ bot-
O
ties with no conception of their injurious effects.
LECTURE V.
CIRCULATION, RESPIRATION AND VENTILATION.
WITHOUT a regular and proper circulation of the
blood, we fade, wither, and die, as hundreds do
on every hand, in consequence of impeded circula-
tion. This I shall demonstrate to you, in describing
the circulation of the blood, and its uses. The for-
mation of blood should first claim our attention, for
a few moments.
92 LECTURES ON
7 . A
A DRAWING OF THE HUMAN HEART.
q, the descending vena cava, returning black blood from the head
and upper extremities.
o, the ascending vena cava, returning the same kind of blood from
the lower parts of the body.
n, the right auricle of the heart, where both veins meet.
p, and x, veins from the liver, spleen and bowels, uniting with the
interior cava.
The auricle being filled, contracts and forces the blood into b, the
ventricle ; next the ventricle contracts and sends it to k, the pulmo-
nary artery, which branches into I, I, to supply the lungs in both
sides of the chest. From the lungs, where a scarkt color has been
given it, four veins of the lungs gather it together, and deposit it in
the left auricle, r ; that contracts, and the blood is driven into the
left ventricle, a ; lastly, the ventricle contracts' and throws it into c,
the aorta, which conducts it over and' through every bone, muscle
and organ.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 93
You are aware that food is reduced by the action
of the stomach, and its solvents, to a pulpy, porra-
ceous mass, called chyme ; that the nutritive part
of this chyme is taken up by the absorbents, and
is a milk-like fluid called chyle. The vessels which
take up this chyle, gradually unite, until they termi-
nate in one large vessel, called the thoracic duct ;
this runs in direct line up the spine, and is emptied
into the left subclavian vein. It is thus carried
across to the right side of the heart, where it is
poured into the heart, and thus mixed with the
venous blood. The heart contracts and throws
this mass of venous blood and chyle into the lungs,
to be vitalized.
The lungs are a delicate, sponge-like tissue, con-
sisting of innumerable air cells. The membrane
that composes these cells is much more delicate
than the finest gauze. As the air is inhaled into
the lungs, the blood by means of these gauze-like
air cells comes in contact with it and unites with its
oxygen, one of the constituent parts of the air we
breathe. You are aware that the lungs are situated
in the lateral portions of the chest, each side of the
heart. They are surrounded by the pleura, a deli-
cate membrane, and a duplicature of the pleura also
covers the heart. Adhesions of the pleura to the
ribs and lungs cause irritation, and great uneasiness,
pain in the side, &tc. You know that in the pres-
94 LECTURES ON
ent mode of dressing, or rather compressing the
chest, pain in the side is so common, that it is con-
sidered something incident to humanity. A young
lady once said to me, " I thought all persons had
pain in the side, when they took much exercise."
Those of you who are acquainted with chem-
istry, know that the air we breathe is composed of
two gases, oxygen and nitrogen.
Oxygen is the vital portion of the air, and is
mixed with the nitrogen to temper, or dilute it, as
it seems. As I before remarked, the heart con-
tracts, and throws the blood into the lungs ; it there
comes in contact with the air, imbibes oxygen from
the air, and thus becomes vitalized. It gives off
carbon, with which it has become loaded, in its pas-
sage through the body, and becomes of a florid red
color, by its union with oxygen. From the lungs
it is carried back into the left side of the heart.
The heart contracts, and throws this revitalized
blood into the arteries. By these it is carried all
over the body, and gives nourishment to every part.
After it has thus travelled all over the body, in the
arteries, it is carried back by the veins, to the right
side of the heart, where it is poured into the heart,
mixed with the chyle, vitalized in the lungs, and
thus prepared again to go the round of the circula-
tion and give nourishment to every portion of the
body. It is of the highest knportance that the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 95
blood should be freed from the carbon, with which
it has become loaded in its progress over the body,
and that it be united with oxygen. No blood is
fit for the nourishment of the body, unless it has
passed through these changes ; nay, more, it is a poi-
eon, which stagnates rather than circulates in the
vessels when it is pent, for there is no regular cir-
culation. All the blood in the body, which amounts
to several gallons, passes through the heart, on its
way to and from the lungs, once in four minutes.
Ladies, I cannot answer for your blood, but this
should be the fact. My object is to make you
understand the mischiefs that arise from the ruinous
practice of compressing the chest. You are aware
that the system is nourished by the blood ; that this
vital fluid, when left at liberty, traverses every tis-
sue of the body, and gives nourishment to every
part. In order that the system be properly nour-
ished, the blood must not only circulate freely, to
every part of the body, but it must be proper blood.
Yet what proper nourishment can there be in a
mass of impurities called blood, which for hours
does not come in contact with the air, and which
consequently cannot give off carbon, or imbibe oxy-
gen. If these pent up, poisoned streams were not
set at liberty during the hours devoted to sleep, the
poor sufferer would be much sooner released from
bodily suffering. It is not my province to follow
96 LECTURES ON
the immortal spirit, and shall I say the immortal
spirit of a suicide ? I am at a loss to conceive how-
American women have become thus deeply involved
in this absurd and ruinous fashion, a fashion a thou-
sand times more hurtful, and more to be deprecated
than that of the Chinese, who compress the feet of
their females. It is vain to say it is the stupid or
weak-minded alone, who are the victims of this
fashion. Women of the finest minds, the deepest
and tenderest sympathies, formed to love, to be be-
loved and to diffuse happiness to those around them,
and often to thousands, who dwell with intense in-
terest on their productions, go down to a premature
grave destroyed by this fashion ; and not only
themselves the victims, but their corset-broken con-
stitutions descend to their children, and thus suffer-
ing is perpetuated.
It is a melancholy error, to suppose that we can
give away what we do not possess. We cannot
give perfect health to our children, unless we our-
selves possess it. Were the desolations of tight
lacing confined to its immediate victims, I could be
better content to remain silent. But when I see
the race sinking beneath the evil, it seems time that
a warning voice should be raised, and raised in such
a manner as to startle the gifted from their slumber
of security ; for the gifted are no less the victims
than the ignorant. I, who have at least sense
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 97
enough to understand a part of the evils that result
from compression, was, at the age of fourteen, well
nigh destroyed by it. And though by great care,
and a sedulous employment of all the means calcu-
lated to remedy the evil, my life is made tolerably
comfortable, still I am a wreck the grasp of death
is upon my vitals, placed there by the murderous
corset, at the early age of fourteen. I know that I
am doomed, that I can live but a short time at the
longest. I would be of the greatest use while I
remain. I would awaken females every where. I
would loosen the death grasp of the corset, and
send the now imprisoned and poisoned blood re-'
joicing through the veins of woman.
If 1 can do this, may I not be willing to sacri-
fice myself to misrepresentation and abuse?
What is an individual, compared with the whole
race ? What is the comfort of one, compared with
the health and happiness of thousands ?
I am satisfied that information alone is wanting.
Let woman once know her own organization, and
she will tremble at the thought of sacrificing her-
self, for she will know that she is doing it. Many
have no idea that the consequences of compression
extend farther than present discomfort and incon-
venience ; and many have so paralyzed the muscles
that hold the body upright, that they cannot sup-
port themselves in an erect posture, without corsets.
yH LECTURES ON
Hence the universal exclamation, "I could not
live without corsets : I should fall in pieces." Such
must take measures to restore the contractile power
of the muscles. A variety of gymnastic and vocal
exercises, suited to this end, I have taught in my
vocal philosophy classes. These exercises enabled
me to become erect, after I had been, for fifteen
years, so much bent as to suppose that I had per-
manent distortion of the spine.
I have said that knowledge alone is wanting.
Of a certain class of minds this is true. I know
very well, that there are melancholy exceptions. I
have an instance in my mind's eye. A young lady
was my pupil, a few years since, when I was en-
gaged in school keeping. She attended to the
study of anatomy with the class. She laced very
tightly in the morning, and in the afternoon she
drew the cords of death still tighter, all the while
averring she was not tight. 1 warned, entreated,
demonstrated but all availed not she seemed
bent upon destroying herself, though in other re-
spects amiable. The work was soon completed ;
she was seized with a fever ; her lungs were pro-
nounced " much affected," by her physician. A
few days, and she was a corpse, as much mur-
dered as if she had drawn the cords about her
neck.
And this state of things is on every hand. So gen-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 99
eral is the distortion of the female form, and death
from this cause, that when I asked a physician in
Philadelphia, if he had a female skeleton, distorted
by tight lacing, " No," said he, " we have no need
to save them ; we can get one when it is wanted,
at a week's notice." Is there not terror enough
in this answer, to send woman out of what is called
her sphere, if she can by any means draw atten-
tion to such tremendous evils ?
When I have been constrained to speak to ladies
of the inevitable destruction they were bringing
upon themselves they would reply, "Mrs. Gove, I
don't lace, I wish you could see Julia, A., or Mary
B. ; they dress tight ; but I am always loose. I
cannot bear any thing close." And they said this,
when the delicate air cells of the lungs were col-
lapsed in such a manner as to produce inflamma-
tion ; all the internal viscera deranged, the blood, re-
fused a passage through its proper channels, was
forcing its way through other vessels, and rendering
them aneurismal. Physicians think there is great
danger when they are obliged to tie one important
blood vessel, in. consequence of the distention the
other vessels must necessarily suffer, from the in-
creased quantity of blood they are obliged to trans-
mit. But what must be the danger, when numbers
of blood vessels, especially the superficial ones, are ob-
structed, and almost entirely collapsed, and the blood,
100 LECTURES ON
diverted from its proper channels, is thrown into
other and deeper seated vessels. These vessels
must of necessity become aneurismal. The regular
pulsation of the heart and arteries is broken up,
and palpitations, difficulty of breathing, and faint-
ness, and at times even suspended animation, are
the consequence. Many persons suppose that
moderate compression about the chest is admissible,
and even useful. If this* be true, why not com-
press the throat, on the same principle ? The lungs
should be fully inflated at every breath. But how
few fully inflate the lungs during the day. I hesi-
tate not to say, that not one in fifty, I fear not one
in five hundred, fully inflates the lungs during the
day. If the blood cannot come in contact with
the air, as it is evident it cannot, if the lungs are
not inflated, then it is utterly unfit to nourish the
body, even if it could circulate, which it is evident
it cannot.
There is a darkness of complexion, a bilious hue,
as it is often termed, about those who lace tightly,
that has no alliance with beauty. The blood,
loaded with carbon, and other impurities, and des-
titute of the oxygen, the vital principle, imparts a
livid, purple hue to the lips, and a sallowness to
the complexion. I have known a lady of clear,
brilliant complexion, by tight lacing, to become
dark, and to have a cadaverous look that was almost
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 101
frightful. She was induced to attend to the study
of anatomy. The consequence was, she laid aside
the corsets at once, and for ever. In a short time
her brilliancy of complexion returned ; she had the
glow and animation of health, and seemed like an
emancipated slave. She was truly an emancipated
victim of fashion.
The effect of compression in paralyzing the mus-
cles of the chest, is not understood as it should be.
It is a law of our nature, that if an organ is not
used, we lose the use of that organ. The muscles
of the chest are not employed in holding the chest
upright, but they are so compressed that they cannot
be properly nourished by the blood. They lose
their healthy contractile power ; they are incapable
of supporting the body ; hence the need of mechan-
ical support. Hence, too, one cause of distortion
of the spine, from irregular and deficient action of
the muscles. It is owing to this paralysis of the
muscles, that ladies think they cannot give up me-
chanical support. If they wish to perpetuate the
evil, and never to remove it, they should continue
their present course. They may be sure that they
have greatly injured themselves, if they find they
cannot keep erect without mechanical support.
In view of the delicate organization of the lungs,
their proneness to rupture, when unduly compress-
ed, and the exceeding commonness of bleeding at
102 LECTURES ON
the lungs, induced by compression, who would not
wish corsets banished from our world ? I have
myself bled at the lungs, till I fell apparently as
dead as I will ever be. Certainly, if I cannot speak
scientifically upon this subject, I can at least speak
feelingly. More evils to the lungs result from
paralysis of the muscles, than we are aware of.
The effort to speak is not made in accordance with
truth and nature ; unnatural labor is put upon the
lungs in speaking ; hence the developement of pul-
monary consumption is hastened. The nervous
evils attendant upon tight lacing need an abler pen
to delineate. Youth is the time for brilliant hopes,
and aspirations after the true, the beautiful. But
the hopes of our race are cut off, the buds of
genius often are nipped ere they have blossomed ;
and to brightness and beauty succeed the gloom of
the pall, or at best a blasted existence. The buoy-
ancy of youth, the excitement of pleasure, hopes
that spring in the young heart in spite of misery,
often keep our ladies from sinking under their self-
imposed torture, and even make them gay and
cheerful. The length of time they support life
shows the power of endurance possessed by the
human system ; but they must fail as surely as
results follow causes. I have not the shadow of
a doubt that much of that nervous irritability, that
ennui, that hangs over the finest minds, shrouding
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 103
their fairest prospects in gloom, may be traced to
the influence of lacing, before or after marriage,
or both. The miserable victim of an absurd fash-
ion has destroyed herself! See her attenuated
form ; hear her hollow cough ; see her hand placed
instinctively upon her side, to ease the piercing
pain ; see her hanging over her poor babe, to
whom she has been able to give but half an ex-
istence. Often she cannot nourish her infant. The
fountains of life are for ever sealed by compression.
The babe must be committed to hirelings, or brought
up in an unhealthy and unnatural manner at home.
The unhappy mother lives on, a prey to disease,
perhaps to those moral aberrations, which are its
consequence ; and often she sinks with consumption,
that fell destroyer, that riots, gorged to the full,
with half the loveliness of earth. Terrible reflec-
tions these !
In view of all these facts, in view, too, of the
fact that numbers of the best educated females in
England and America have discarded corsets,
will our ladies continue slaves of a fashion as absurd
as it is ruinous ? Let all those who have the least
love for science, for philanthropy, or Christianity,
answer, No : resolutely, and firmly, No.
I hesitate not to say, that tight lacing is doing an
amount of mischief in our land, fully equal to that
wrought by alcohol. Then let public sentiment be
104 LECTURES ON
equally aroused against it. To do this we must
enlighten, which depends on woman. But woman,
unaided, can never accomplish this great work.
There is a unity in the race, and unless they act in
unison, little can be done on any great question.
Would our own loved land have been discovered,
had not the energies of Columbus been assisted by
Isabella. Would our independence have been
achieved, had there not been many mothers beside
the mother of Washington ? We may strive to be
good or great alone, but we strive against fearful
odds, and it will only be in isolated cases that we
shall succeed. Masses will never be elevated in
this way. Men should every where express their
disapprobation of this cruel fashion. What avails
a woman's reason, or her determination to consult
health and comfort, if she is sure of being called a
" dowdy," by the man she admires ? I grant some
women have independence enough to survive even
such a remark : but most of the sex would choose
to be sacrificed. I know many men of worth, and
science, have raised a warning voice, and that with
many tight lacing is considered as vulgar, and as
much opposed to true elegance of form, as it really
is. Still, it is little more than three years, since I
heard a lady called a " dowdy," who had given up
corsets, and that too by a gentleman who has lec-
tured on Anatomy. I would fain believe that all
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.
105
gentlemen have correct taste as respects the female
form. But I know many who are fine scholars,
who are exceedingly ignorant of anatomy. They
learn to admire what they see daily, and they see
every day, what should make them tremble and
grow sick at heart.
COMPRESSED CHEST.
NATURAL FEMALE CHEST.
Perhaps these two drawings might with propriety
be left to speak for themselves. But we would ask
attention to the free, full and natural outline of the
one, and the cramped, contracted, unnatural angles
of the other. [Tiie illustrations accompanying this
lecture are from that excellent work, " The Class
Book of Anatomy," by Dr. J. V. C. Smith, a
book that ought to be in every family.]
Works of fiction, sickly tales that make clay wasps
of their heroines, foster the false taste of the com-
8
106 LECTUKES ON
munity. Not long since, I took up a newspaper
and cast my eyes over the first page, which con-
tained a story. I read this sentence, " Rising, she
displayed a delicately slender waist, rather smaller
than ordinary." Let the dissecting knife display
the ulcers in the lungs, within that waist, and it
would not seem desirable, to the most vain and
sickly sentimentalist.
" Oh ! my Nora's gown for me,
That floats as wild as mountain breezes,
Leaving every beauty free
- To sink or swell as heaven pleases."
I have now demonstrated the importance of
breathing freely. Next in importance is the quality
of the air we breathe. You are aware that we are
continually throwing out carbonic acid gas, from
the lungs, and taking up oxygen. I believe it is
estimated that we render a gallon of air unfit for
respiration, every minute. Ventilation must be in
proportion to this expense. No one is safe, unless
it is. You are aware that carbonic acid gas de-
stroys life suddenly, when we are exposed to it in
its undiluted state. We ought to know that when
mixed with the air we breathe it destroys as surely,
though more slowly. I need not call your attention
to cases where this gas has proved fatal, such as
wells, cellars, and rooms where charcoal is burned.
You are familiar with these examples. You know
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 107
that this gas is produced by combustion, as well as
by breathing. And knowing this, we act as if we
had no knowledge on the subject. Our rooms are
heated, and seldom aired. Our schools, our lecture
rooms, our steamboats, cars, coaches, and other
means of conveyance, even our churches, are so
many manufactories of death, from the fact that
pure air is excluded, and what remains is robbed of
its oxygen, loaded with carbonic acid gas, and the
impure exhalations continually arising from the
human body. The lungs are forced to receive the
poison. The consequences must be obvious, if we
will but reflect for a moment. The amount of in-
jury done by impure air, in our schools and churches
alone, is enough to make us tremble, if we were
but alive to it. But how greatly is the injury in-
creased when the lungs are compressed in the man-
ner we see at church, and at school.
The manner in which ventilation is neglected at
schools, is more painful from the fact that the young
creatures who are there confined six hours in a day,
without any regular and systematic exercise, are
less capable of resisting hurtful impressions, than
those who are older. Children fail often at school
and sink under illness, or the seeds of consumption
are sown there, to be developed in after years.
Yet few parents ever suspect that the impure air of
the school room has any thing to do with the ill-
108 LECTURES ON
ness of their child. Few inquire whether the
school room is ventilated or not. I know that other
causes are continually undermining the health of
our youth. The process of educating our children
by steam, if I may be allowed the expression, does
them great injury. Bad air is only one cause of
evil. Compression is only one cause. Still the
evils to which they give rise, may well be called
"Legion," for they are many. I have a school-
room now in my mind's eye, where for many years
about one hundred scholars attended. I never
knew it ventilated but once. Then I went into it
to make preparation for a lecture. The air was so
bad, that 1 found it difficult to remain till the win-
dows could be raised. Had not the room been
wanted for use, it would have remained close shut
till the next day, when the children and teacher
would have again inhaled the poisonous air.
The teacher was a friend of mine, and an intelli-
gent lady. I called on her to warn her of the fatal
consequences of breathing such an atmosphere. I
found her with her large school immersed in poison.
Her little son, some four years old. appeared as if
some deadly blight had struck him. I told the
mother he must die, unless removed from that school
room. He sat on a low bench, and as you know
carbonic acid gas is heavier than air, consequently
he was more exposed to its influence, than the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 109
larger scholars. To my earnest warning, the
mother returned this answer, " I suppose he would
be better out of school." My words seemed to
fall on her ear, " like drops of rain upon a glossy
leaf." I however solemnly repeated the warn-
ing. The lady was herself very strong. In about
two months, the child died, and in a very short
time after, the mother sunk and died also. But no
alteration is made in the treatment of that school.
No one inquired the cause of the teacher's death,
or that of her child, or why their own children
were like drooping or withered lilies in consequence
of disease.
LECTURE VL
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE STOMACH.
\THIS world is emphatically a world of change^
This truth has been beautifully commented on by
various writer!} But as a truth with which we have
much to do in the present lecture, I introduce it
here. Every thing is continually changing. Not
a leaf, not a plant, not a flower, not even a blade
of grass is the same to-day, that it was yesterday.
110 LECTURES ON
They are changed. They are giving off one set of
particles, and assimilating or taking up other parti-
cles. These plants must have nourishment. They
must have earth, they must have water, to supply
the place of these particles that are thrown off.
Deprive them of this support, and they wither and
die. So it is with man ; our bodies are continually
changing. With man there is constant waste and
renovation. One set of particles are thrown out of
the system, and another set is at the same lime
supplied by that vital fluid that nourishes all parts
of the body. I mean the blood. Now the great
laboratory for the elimination of particles that go to
make up the blood is the stomach. You know
that you put food into the stomach, and that it is
reduced by the action of the stomach and its pecu-
liar solvents, to a pulpy mass, and that from this
mass the materials that go to make up the blood
are eliminated. But more of this, by and by. I
am desirous that you should first understand the
anatomy of the stomach and organs immediately
connected with it.
The stomach of man is a membraneous, muscu-
lar bag, lying on the left side, under the ribs. It
reaches toward the rrj:ht side, a little beyond what
we call the pit of the stomach.
The stomach consists of three membraneous
layers or coats. It has numerous glands, blood
vessels and nerves.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.
Ill
The outside of the stomach is a tough, shining
membrane, which lines the abdomen, and consti-
tutes the outer covering of all the intestines. This
membrane strengthens the stomach, and binds down
the intestines and other organs in their places.
THE STOMACH.
The human stomach somewhat resembles, in sliape, the bag of
the Scottish instrument of music called the bagpipe. It lies directly
across the body, just under the edge of the ribs, and in such close
contact with the diaphragm or floor of the apartment which contains
the lungs, that the latter seem to rest directly upon it. The place
where the food pipe enters it is called the cardiac ^orifice, and the
termination or outlet of this spacious saloon is called the pylorus or
pyloric orifice. House 1 Live In, bij Dr. Wm. A. Alcott.
a, sesophagus. b, cardiac portion, c, great or left extremity.
d, small extremity, e, stomach tied at the pylorus. /, great ante-
rior curvature. g,g, omenlum or caul.
112 LECTURES ON
The middle and muscular coat of the stomach con-
sists of a layer of fibres. These traverse the stomach
longitudinally. The internal layer of this middle
coat consists of circular fibres. The uses of the
muscular coat have a distinct reference to the function
of digestion. By the joint action of the longitudinal
and circular fibres the stomach is enabled to con-
tract and lessen its size, so as to adapt its capacity
to the volume of its contents.
By the successive action of these layers of fibres,
running as they do in different directions, a kind of
churning motion is produced in the stomach. This
motion of the stomach agitates the food and con-
tributes both to break it down, and to mix it with
the peculiar fluid which has such an important part
in the process of digestion. I mean the gastric
juice, of which I shall tell you more presently.
The internal coat of the stomach is called the
mucous or villous coat. It is a velvet-like mem-
brane, of a pale pink color. The extent of this
layer is greater than the others, and it is conse-
quently wrinkled.
The upper aperture of the stomach is called the
cardiac orifice, from cardia, heart, because it lies
near the heart. The lower orifice is called pyloric,
or pylorus, from door-keeper, because when any
thing improper has been admitted into the stomach,
this orifice is closed upon it and refuses to let it pass
into the intestines, thus acting as a door-keeper to
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 113
prevent what is improper from passing. These
improper substances are either ejected from the
stomach by vomiting, or after repeated trials they
are at last allowed to pass through the pyrolic orifice.
The stomach is nourished by numerous blood
vessels. It also has nerves, of which I shall speak
by and by. Many curious facts respecting the
stomach and its functions have been made known
through the medium of an accident that happened
to the person of Alexis St. Martin, in the year 1822.
" At the age of eighteen he was accidentally
wounded in the stomach by the discharge of a mus-
ket. The charge, consisting of powder and duck
shot, entered the left side of the youth, he being at
a distance of not more than one yard from the muz-
zle of the gun. The contents entered posteriorly
and in an oblique direction, forward and inward,
literally blowing off integuments and muscles of the
size of a man's hand, fracturing and carrying away
the anterior half of the sixth rib, fracturing the fifth,
lacerating the lower portion of the left lobe of the
lungs, the diaphragm, and perforating the stomach.
The whole mass of materials forced from the mus-
ket, together with the fragments of clothing and
pieces of fractured ribs, were driven into the mus-
cles and cavity of the chest.
" Dr. Beaumont saw him twenty-five or thirty
minutes after the accident occurred, and on exam-
114 LECTURES ON
ination found a portion of the lung as large as a tur-
key's egg protruding through the external wound,
lacerated and burnt, and immediately below this
another protrusion, which on further examination
proved to be a portion of the stomach, lacerated
through all its coats, and pouring out the food he
had eaten for his breakfast, through an orifice large
enough to admit the forefinger. Subsequently the
integuments sloughed off, and left the opening into
the stomach much larger. The coats of the stomach
protruded through the aperture, and finally adhered
to the pleura costalis and external wound. In one
year from the time of the accident, the injured parts
were all sound, with the exception of the aperture.
The perforation was about two and a half inches in
circumference, and the food and drinks constantly
exuded, unless prevented by tent compress and band-
age. In 1825, Dr. Beaumont commenced a series
of experiments with him at Fort Mackinaw, Michi-
gan. From that time till 1833, Dr. B. at different
intervals continued to experiment upon this man.
It appears that during that time, he was possessed
of considerable health and vigor."
Dr. Beaumont says that he enjoyed general good
health. But directly afterward he says, " For the
last four months he [St. M.j has been unusually
plethoric and robust."
Now plethora, or inordinate fulness of the ves-
ANATOiMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 115
sels, is disease, and though very many have this
habit of body, who have perhaps much vigor, still
it is disease. I know many persons think a full
red face indicative of health. But I have learned
to look upon such a countenance with pain. I
know that there is plethora, or congestion ; that the
blood is unduly accelerated ; that it is driven on
its course in a manner, to borrow the simile of
another, very analagous to the high pressure steam
engines. To carry out this borrowed simile, for I
know of nothing that will so aptly illustrate the
case, we may take pleasure in seeing the proud
boat cut her way, amid sheets of foam, through the
waves ; but we see not her danger. Every inch of
her boiler is strained to bursting, and anon, tim-
bers, planks, and all parts of the fair fabric are fly-
ing in fragments through the air, and mangled limbs
and dead bodies are mingled in the dreadful ruin.
Now that person who is stimulated till his whole
system is on the verge of acute disease and death,
though he may have the appearance of health, and
like the over-worked steam engine, may have vast
power, has this accession of power at a like risk.
But to Alexis St. M. The belief that he was
in a degree diseased, does not affect many of the
facts observed by Dr. Beaumont ; it only renders
us cautious about receiving all his deductions as
facts and true scientific conclusions. It is doubtless
116 LECTURES ON
true that Dr. B.'s observations and conclusions re-
specting the gastric juice, are of more value than
those of any other physiologist, because no one ever
had such an opportunity for observation as Dr. B.
Though a few cases have occurred in which direct
access has been had to the interior of the stomach,
and though Richerand, and other physiologists have
availed themselves of these opportunities to get in-
formation respecting the digestive process, yet the
patients generally have been but a short time under
the care of these observers, and have never had
that degree of health that St. M. had. In this case
the patient was a series of years under Dr. B.'s
care, and there was consequently ample time and
opportunity for a very great variety of experiments.
Dr. B. also carried on his experiments with much
judgment and care. One point that is of immense
importance is completely settled by the experiments
of Dr. B. It is, that the " gastric juice does not
continue to be secreted between the intervals of di-
gestion, and does not accumulate to be ready to act
upon the next meal." You are doubtless aware
that the gastric juice is that fluid that is secreted
and poured into the stomach to digest our food.
This gastric fluid is a powerful solvent, and will
digest food out of the stomach by keeping it warm,
that is if the food is first finely divided.
In the aperture of St. Martin's stomach a valve
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 117
formed, which shut up the opening. By pushing
aside this valve the cavity within became visible to
a considerable extent. When St. M. lay for a
time on his left side a portion of the internal villous
or velvetty coat of the stomach was protruded
through the aperture. Owing to this circumstance
Dr. B. could see what changes occurred, both when
food was swallowed, and when it was introduced
into the opening. On examining this internal coat
of the stomach with a magnifying glass, he perceived
an immediate change of appearance ensue, when-
ever food of any kind was brought in contact with
it, very fine nervous and vascular papilla? could be
seen arising from this villous or velvetty internal
coat of the stomach, from which distilled a pure,
colorless and slightly viscid fluid, which collected
in drops on the points of the papillae, and trickled
down into the stomach, and mingled with the food.
This fluid was the gastric juice, which was mingled
with the food by the peculiar churning motion of
the stomach, till every part of the food was brought
in contact with it, and was dissolved by it.
It is recognized as a law of nature that all things
are continually undergoing change. Well has it
been said, " Not even a breath of wind can pass
along the surface of the earth without altering in
some degree the proportions of the bodies with
which it comes in contact ; and not a drop of rain
118 LECTURES ON
can fall upon a stone without carrying away some
portion of its substance."
Now though every one is aware that change is
continually going on amongst dead and inanimate
matter, yet perhaps comparatively few reflect, that
still greater changes are going on in the vegetable
and animal kingdoms. We know that a dress will
wear out, though the process of removing particle
after particle of it is slow and imperceptible. We
know that furniture and dwellings are continually
changing, and wearing out. But are we equally
aware that far greater changes are going on in living
bodies, and that every exertion we make, every
breath we draw is attended with waste of the par-
ticles that go to make up our bodies, so that the
same particles that make up the body to-day will
not all be present in it to-morrow, and so on, till
the whole body is changed ? Now if this waste
goes on without renovation, we shall soon be en-
tirely wasted, or so far as not to be able to sustain
life. This principle is seen in those who are de-
prived of food, and thus are starved. One great
distinguishing characteristic between living bodies
and inanimate matter is this: though in the living
animal a continual waste of substance is kept up,
by exhalations from the lungs, the skin, the bowels,
and the kidneys, and though not a movement can
be made without increasing the circulation, and thus
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 119
adding to the general waste, yet there are organs
whose business it is to supply all the demand thus
made. This is one great distinguishing character-
istic between- dead and living bodies. When dead
bodies undergo changes there is no renovating
power. The human system throws out each day
several pounds oi substance by the ordinary organs
of excretion. This waste, without the power of
repairing the loss, would soon reduce us so low that
the system would be incapable of supporting life.
Three quarters of the substance of the body have
been lost before death ensued. Now the stomach
is the storehouse where are put materials for repair-
ing the waste of the body. And the Creator has
given us hunger and thirst as watchful monitors to
inform us when we need food to repair the waste
of the body. The intention of taking food is to
support the body, to supply the waste induced by
action. We should eat in order to live. But how
few do this. How many live to eat instead of eat-
ing to live. Sensual gratification in eating, in
drinking, in every thing, seems to be the ruling
motive with very many in our perverted and de-
praved world. " These things ought not so to be."
We should come to that state, where, " whether
we eat or drink or whatever we do we should do
all to the glory of God." People should not in-
quire what will best please a depraved and perverted
120 LECTURES ON
appetite, but what will be best for them. They
should inform themselves on these subjects, learn
their organization and what is best for them, and
then resolutely do what appears to be duty. How-
ever unpleasant it may be at first, it will become
pleasant by habit. I know people think they can-
not live on plain food. They say they have no
appetite for it. They want something that will
" relish." But if a person by habit can get so as
to love the taste of tobacco, that nauseous weed, or
the smell and taste of rum, that " liquid fire," as it
has been often and aptly denominated, I ask, need
we despair of being able yet to relish plain food.
Hunger and thirst are given us to notify us that
the system wants a supply of nourishment. That
is, true hunger and thirst advertise us of this fact.
But there are in this world, and especially in this
age, a vast number of counterfeits and perhaps a
natural appetite is as rare as almost any thing. An
old dietetic writer defines a natural appetite thus
" The natural appetite which is as well stimulated,
and satisfied, with the most simple dish, as with
the most palatable." How many such appetites
think ye there are ? How many of you would be
satisfied to make a meal of bread, of fruit, of rice,
of potatoes, and nothing else ? I do not say that it
is right, or proper that any of you should come, at
once, to such diet as this. But 1 do say, were the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 121
appetite natural and unperverted, you would be
perfectly satisfied with such food. The same writer
who thus defines a natural appetite, speaks of arti-
ficial and habitual appetite in this manner. " The
artificial appetite, is that excited by stomachic elix-
irs, cordials, pickles, digestive salts, &c., which re-
mains only as long as the operation of these stimu-
lants continues." " The habitual appetite, or that
by which we accustom ourselves to take victuals at
certain hours, and frequently without an appetite."
Now I have a terrible fact in reserve for those who
eat too much, either from habit or from an artificial
appetite, induced by the use of stimulants.
When the stomach is excited, it pours out the
gastric fluid, much as the salivary secretions are
poured into the mouth. We know that by chew-
ing cloves, or other stimulating substances, we ex-
cite the secretory organs of the mouth, and that
afterwards there is dryness and inflammation of the
mouth, and thirst. So it is with the stomach. It
may be unduly stimulated, and the gastric fluid
secreted and poured into the stomach till the se-
creting organs are exhausted, and no gastric fluid
can be obtained by applying the usual stimulus of
food. In such a state food cannot be digested ; it
putrefies or turns acid, and irritates and distresses
and deranges the stomach and its functions, and by
sympathy all other parts of the system. In disease
9
122 LECTURES ON
the gastric juice and the internal coat of the stomach
undergo great changes from a state of health. Dr.
Beaumont had ocular demonstration of these facts;
for, unlike others, he had the opportunity of seeing
what was going on in the stomach. Whilst attend-
ing St. Martin, he found that when a feverish state
was induced, whether from obstructed perspiration,
from overloading the stomach, or from fear, anger,
or other mental emotions depressing or disturbing
the nervous system, the internal or villous coat of
the stomach became sometimes red and dry, and
at other times pale and moist, and lost altogetl er its
smooth and healthy appearance. As a necessary
consequence, the usual secretions became vitiated,
impaired, or entirely suppressed. When these dis-
eased appearances were considerable, the system
sympathized. The mouth became dry, and there
was thirst, quickened pulse, and other bad symp-
toms, and " no gastric juice could be procured or
extracted, even on applying the usual stimulus of
food."
We see, from this statement of facts, how very
important it is that no food be taken, when these
symptoms are present. Some people have an idea
that a patient who has fever should have food to
support the strength. No food can be digested in
such a state, and of course it is the height of folly,
. not to say rr.a Iness, to give food. It was once said
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 123
by a skilful physician, that one might as well at-
tempt to build up a house in flames, as sustain a
patient's strength by food, who had fever; and I
have heard a physician say tha^ he believed he
could cure fever with no other medicine than cold
water, externally and internally applied.
Now many people err by taking food when the
stomach is not in a situation to digest it. If a
child falls, and is hurt, or is frightened, or is
crossed, and cries, how many mothers give food, or
nurse the child, to quiet it. My heart is pained for
mothers, because in their ignorance they destroy
their children. It is often the case that children
who have nothing to do, contract a habit of eating.
They have a morbid, counterfeit appetite, ami v'^
teaze, and the mother, with many cares, kno\ , + ji
how to quiet them. Thus she is induced to give
them food when she knows they do not need it.
But she does not know the tremendous conse-
quences of such indulgence ; she does not know
that she is inducing disease, that she is in fact de-
stroying her child by the course she pursues.
In the present state of society, employment is
regular. Waste is consequently regular, and of
course the supply should be regular. This is one
reason why we should take our meals regularly.
But there is another reason besides this ; the stomach
is a muscular organ. All muscles that act, need
124 LECTURES ON
rest after action. After the stomach has digested a
meal, it should rest ; but when we, or our children,
are continually taking luncheons, what time has the
stomach for rest ? Besides, we introduce a great
deal more into the stomach, than the system de-
mands.
Many persons, and especially children, habitually
take confectionary between their meals. This prac-
tice is a fruitful source of disease and death. The
confectionary is hurtful, because it is taken when no
food ought to be taken, and would produce disease,
and very much shorten life, if it had no hurtful qual-
ity. Human life is doubtless much abridged by
taking wholesome food, when none should be taken ;
bu& -confectionary is more to be dreaded, because it
i?sef] itself unhealthy food, and because much essen-
tial oil, and even alcohol, are imprisoned in it, and
because the coloring matter is often a deadly poi-
son. The effect of the stimulating substances min-
gled with the sugar in confectionary, is more inju-
rious than people suppose. Indeed, many who
have a conscience against taking ardent spirits, do
not scruple to take confectionary.
They may suppose that the alcohol is in so small
quantities, that it cannot be hurtful. But let such
contemplate the effects of ardent spirits in small
quantities upon the stomach of Alexis St. Martin,
as detailed by Dr. Beaumont. The evil attending
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 125
' *
the use of alcohol may not be felt directly, but it
is there, nevertheless. On examining St. M.'s
stomach, after he had used ardent spirits, Dr. B.
found its mucous membrane covered with erythe-
matic (inflammatory) and aphthous (ulcerated)
patches, the secretions vitiated, and the gastric
juice diminished in quantity, viscid and unhealthy ;
although St. M. complained of nothing, not even of
impaired appetite. "Two days later, the inner
membrane of the stomach was unusually morbid,
the erythematic (inflammatory) appearance more
extensive, the spots more livid than usual ; from the
surface of some of them exuded small drops of
grumous blood, the aphthous (ulcerated) patches
were larger and more numerous, the mucous cover-
ing thicker than common, and the gastric secretions
much more vitiated. The gastric fluids extracted
were mixed with a large proportion of thick ropy
mucus, and a considerable muco-purulent dis-
charge, slightly tinged with blood, resembling the
discharge from the bowels in some cases of dysente-
ry." Notwithstanding this diseased appearance of
the stomach, no very essential aberration of its
functions was manifested. " St. M. complained of
no symptoms indicating any general derangement
of the system, except an uneasy sensation at the
pit of the stomach, and some vertigo, with dimness
and yellowness of vision, on stooping down and
126 LECTURES ON
rising again ; had a thin yellowish brown coating
on his tongue, and his countenance was rather sal-
low, pulse uniform and regular, appetite good,
rests quietly, and sleeps as usual."
Notwithstanding all this disease, this man wou?d
probably have called himself " pretty well." He
had a good appetite, or rather, Dr. B. says he had a
good appetite. We can hardly suppose a healthy
appetite, where there was such extensive disease.
But people who eat confectionary, have not only
those evils which arise from the alcohol mixed with
it, but the evils resulting from taking food at impro-
per times, taking too much food, and of a very un-
healthy kind. Besides, the coloring matter is often
a deadly poison. I know many good people eat
confectionary because they are ignorant. They
would not eat it. did they know the mischiefs that
result from its use. But I have yet hardly begun
to tell its injurious effects. By unduly stimulating
the system, it excites unholy passions, and the young
and inexperienced, and unsettled, are often as
effectually stimulated, and led to licentiousness by
confectionary, as by ardent spirits.
Every one now acknowledges the degrading and
sensualizing influence of ardent spirits. When peo-
ple are once convinced that confectionary also is
doing a great amount of mischief, though in a more
concealed manner, Christians will no more use it.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 127
These things need but to be understood in our land.
I would as soon use, or sell ardent spirits, as confec-
tionary. Its baneful effects upon children are not
understood. Were they made known to parents,
they would be shocked inexpressibly, that they had
ever indulged children with the tempting poison.
It is painful to see children indulged as they are
in forms of food that are doing such indescribable
injury. Will not mothers be warned and entreated
not to indulge their children with confectionary.
It is far easier and better to prevent the evils arising
from its use, than to cure them. The habit, when
once formed, is hard to be broken up. Still mothers
should spare no pains. Above all, never give chil-
dren presents of confectionary. It is horrid ! Make
them intellectual, not sensual beings.
It is very necessary that children, as well as
grown people, take their food regularly. They
may need a lunch when small, as their rapid growth
makes them need more nutrition than adults. But
to deprave their appetites, to lead them astray, from
the cradle, by giving them improper food, and food
at improper times, is cruelly wronging the helpless,
who look to us for protection. I know a family,
and who does not know such a family ? who have
lost several children, and these children were lost
by improper indulgence, by wrong management.
Yet the parents do not dream of this. They think
128 LECTUKES OW
they did all for their children that they could do.
They did, with the little knowledge they possessed,
do all they could, and much more than they should
have done. They had the best medical attendance,
and did all the doctor told them to do. But their
children were taken away.
Still these parents have followed precisely the
same course with each succeeding child, the
course of indulgence. Had those children been
rightly managed in all things, I have not the shadow
of a doubt, they might now have been living. But
they were not rightly managed. They were al-
lowed to eat every thing usually eaten, among what
are termed good livers. They were doubtless much
injured during the first months of their lives by the
improper food, and habits of the mother, by impure
air, &c. But as soon as the little innocents could
eat, they were fed with hurtful food, at improper
times, and in improper quantities. The skin was-
neglected. Perhaps they were never bathed a
dozen times during their lives. And when, in con-
sequence of all the abuses to which they were sub-
jected, disease attacked them, the afflicted parents
wondered why their child was the victim of disease.
They did not know that the penalty of violated
laws was visited upon their child. That its sick-
ness was an effect that follows a cause.
What is past cannot be recalled ; and what was
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 129
done in the days of ignorance we should not recall
to harrow the mind, but as a warning. In the
future there is a redeeming power. That parent
who knows not the anatomy and physiology of the
stomach, should obtain information. Knowledge
is more needful for the mother than gold, or silver,
or precious stones. What mother who knows not
the anatomy and physiology of the skin, will neg-
lect it, both as respects herself, and her children.
But if she has that information she ought to have,
she will feel that it is as important to bathe the
whole surface of the body, and thus keep the pores
open for the transmission of waste and hurtful par-
ticles, as to take her meals and give her children
theirs. Nor am I digressing here, for if the skin is
not thus attended to, the hurtful particles are thrown
back upon the intestines, and disease is the conse-
quence. Many diarrhoeas and bowel complaints are
to be referred to this cause.
I have seen a pale sickly child indulged with
fruit and confectionary, and then suffered to sleep
directly, when its stomach was in such a state that
all its energies were imperatively demanded, and
even then the result would be bad enough ; and
when the child awoke with a degree of fever, and
languor and restless anguish, which no language can
express, it was scolded, and perhaps whipped for
being cross. And this was done by an affectionate
130 LECTURES ON
mother, who would have revolted with horror from
the deed, had she known what was the true situa-
tion of her child, and its danger. But in her igno-
rance she has caused the mischief, and we cannot
expect her to cure or alleviate it.
The excessive use of stimulants in food is a very
great evil. It lays the foundation for many more
evils. There is no nutriment in these stimuli. The
whole family of spices could not keep us from
starving. They unduly excite the stomach, cause
an artificial appetite, thus causing us to eat too
much. They produce disease in the stomach. I
knew a gentleman who lived in the usual manner,
and besides took tobacco and a great many cloves.
His stomach became diseased to such an extent
that for several years before his death, the exercise
of washing his hands " wrenched his stomach," as
he expressed it, and gave him great pain. The
coats of the stomach became thickened, and finally
the pyloric orifice grew up, and for thirty-six days
prior to his death, nothing passed out of the stomach.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 131
LECTURE VII.
DIETETICS.
IN the last lecture I demonstrated to you that
the system was continually wasted and renovated.
Appetite is placed as a watchful sentinel to warn
us when the stomach needs materials to supply,
through the medium of the blood, the waste of the
system. We have reason to believe that if men
lived as they ought, they would have a natural and
healthy appetite, and that they might with safety
follow its dictates. But people have so long erred
physically, mentally, and morally, that they can
place little confidence in themselves. There is a
very great degree of sympathy between the stomach
and all other parts of the body. All the organs
accompany the stomach in its departure from health,
and the derangement of the other organs produces
a corresponding derangement of the digestive func-
tions. I recollect the case of a gentleman who had
dyspepsia. At times he was tormented with dis-
tressing pain in his head. The pain was intolerable.
By bathing his head, literally plunging it in cold
water, the pain would entirely leave his head, and
then he had the most excruciating distress in his
132 LECTURES ON
stomach. Thus he was continually agonized be-
tween the two. If this man could have been made
sensible that medicine could never reach his case,
without a change of habits, what an amount of suf-
fering he might have escaped. But people who
have by wrong habits brought themselves into such
a state, or one analogous to it, seldom think much
of their habits. Indeed, they are often like spoiled
children, they indulge themselves, and are indulged
by their friends, more, because they are sick. If
an abstemious course is recommended by a physi-
cian, it is not always that his advice is followed.
And too many physicians place too much confidence
in a course of drugging, and very many, it is to be
feared, give medicine more to satisfy the patient,
than in accordance with their best judgment. Many
people think if they are ill, they must take a great
deal of medicine, and if they are very sick, they
must take a very great deal of medicine. I once
heard two ladies conversing about a certain physi-
cian whose charges for medicine were considered
high ; one remarked, " If I had to pay so much, I
should want a good parcel of medicine." The cir-
cumstance reminded me of an anecdote I heard of
Prof. Smith, of New Haven. A certain man wished
to buy an emetic. The doctor took out the usual
quantity and charged the usual price, which was
one dollar for advice and medicine, I believe.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 133
" What ! " said the man, " so little medicine for
so much money. 1 want my money's worth, sir."
The doctor shook a little more from the phial.
Still it was not enough to satisfy the patient. He
remarked again that " he wanted the worth of his
money." The doctor shook pretty liberally this
time, probably gave him as much as he dared give
him. The man went away tolerably well satisfied
with the quantity. The doctor requested him to
call after the medicine had operated, and let him
know how he felt. After a few days the poor man
came, weak and haggard enough ; he was probably
satisfied that the doctor had given him the worth of
his money.
The stomach is supplied with a profusion of ner-
vous filaments, which form a kind of net work in
its immediate neighborhood. The abundance of
these nerves accounts for the severe and often
fatal results of a blow on the pit of the stomach.
A distinguished writer says, " the co-operation of
the nervous system is necessary for the production
of appetite," and there is a direct sympathy between
the stomach and the rest of the body, " by means of
which the stimulus of hunger becomes unusually
urgent where the bodily waste has been great."
We find in children a keen appetite, as they
have to repair waste, and carry on growth at the
same time ; consequently, a greater supply of nour-
134 LECTURES ON
ishment is required by children, than grown people.
But here a serious mistake may be committed pa-
rents may think children need much, to repair waste
and assist growth, and they indulge them with too
great quantities, and with food of an improper qual-
ity.
Another great error is committed, by people who
have attained their growth, and whose occupations
are sedentary, or who do not labor or exercise much,
and consequently their waste is slight. These per-
sons often indulge as much, and perhaps more in
the pleasures of the table, than those whose occu-
pations are laborious, or who use much active exer-
cise. Dyspepsia is a necessary consequence of such
a course.
The remarks of a distinguished physician upon
this subject are so much to the point, that I cannot
forbear introducing a quotation from his work. H
says, " There are numerous persons, especially in
towns, and among females, who having their time
and employments entirely at their own disposal,
carefully avoid every thing that requires an effort of
mind or body, and pass their lives in a state of in-
action entirely incompatible with the healthy per-
formance of the various animal functions. Having
no bodily exertion to excite waste, promote circula-
tion, or stimulate nutrition, they experience little
keenness of appetite, have weak powers of diges-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 135
tion, and require but a limited supply of food. If,
while inactive and expending little, such persons
would be contented to follow nature, so far as not
to provoke appetite by stimulants and cookery, and
to eat and drink only in proportion to the wants of
the system^ they would fare comparatively well.
But having no imperative occupation, and no enjoy-
ment from active and useful exertion, their time
hangs heavily on their hands, and they are apt to
have recourse to eating, as the only avenue to pleas-
ure still open to them ; and, forgetful or ignorant of
the relation subsisting between waste and nutrition,
they endeavor to renew, in the present indulgence
of appetite, the real enjoyment which its legitimate
gratification afforded, under different circumstances.
Pursuing the pleasures of the table, with the same
ardor as before, they eat and drink freely and abun-
dantly, and instead of trying to acquire a healthy
desire for food, and increased powers of digestion,
by exercise, they resort to tonics, spices, \\ine and
other stimuli, which certainly excite for the mo-
ment, but eventually aggravate the mischief.
" The natural result of this mode of proceeding is,
that the stomach becomes oppressed by excess of
exertion, healthy appetite gives way, and morbid
craving takes its place ; sickness, headache, and
bilious attacks become frequent ; the bowels are
habitually disordered, the feet cold, and the circula-
136 LECTURES ON
tion irregular ; and a state of bodily weakness and
mental irritability is induced, which constitutes a
heavy penalty for the previous indulgence.
" So far, however, is the true cause of all these
phenomena from being perceived, even then, that a
cure is sought, not in a better regulated diet and
regimen, but from bitters to strengthen the stomach,
laxations to carry off the redundant materials from
the system, wine to overcome the sense of sinking,
and heavy lunches to satisfy the morbid craving,
which they only silence for a little."
I have introduced this long quotation, contrary to
my usual practice, because the language here used
exactly expressed what I wished to present to
you.
I am astonished that a well educated physician
can be other than a temperance man ; I use the
term temperance here, not in its technical applica-
tion, but in its broad sense, as applied to eating, as
well as drinking. How astonishing it is, that people
should overtask, stimulate, and jade their stomachs,
till they are sick, and then resort to more stimulating
food, condiments, and even wine and bitters, to
create an artificial appetite, to enable them farther
to abuse their already abused stomachs, and through
these the whole system ? How many persons eat
without a healthy appetite ! They have something
to please the palate, and entice them to eat, when
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 137
they need nothing so much as rest for their tired
stomachs and assimilating organs.
In my last lecture, you will recollect, I spoke
particularly of the gastric fluid, and its agency in
digesting our food. You are aware, that in order
to have our food properly digested, it should be
properly masticated. Professor Hitchcock says
that a physician of distinction, whom he once con-
sulted, said to him, " Have you ever thought for
what purpose Providence gave you teeth ? " If all
physicians should put the same question to dyspep-
tic patients, they would do much good. The truth
is, many people seem never to have thought why
their teeth were given them. They do not use
them properly, and they are soon taken from
them.
It is a fact that ought to be understood more
generally than it is, that if any part of the system
is not used, the use of that part or organ is taken
from us. We have need of every organ we
should not wantonly throw away any. When food
is " bolted," as the saying is, a la boa constrictor,
instead of being properly masticated and swallowed,
two serious evils are produced. One is, the food is
not divided finely, and the gastric juice cannot act
upon food in masses, or it can only act upon the
surface of the mass, and owing to the heat of the
stomach, a very different process may be going on
10
138 LECTURES OJT
in the centre of the mass. Another evil is, proper
insalivation of the food is prevented. The. saliva
has a very important part to perform in the process
of digestion. Those persons who lose the saliva,
from whatever cause, experience much trouble in
consequence of it. Those of you who are acquaint-
ed with the manner in which linen is spun in many
parts of our country, know the truth of this state-
ment. Those who spin the linen, cannot wet it
with their saliva but a short time, without rinding
their health give way ; while those who wet their
thread with water, experience no inconvenience.
You are aware, that after the food is introduced
into the stomach, it is converted, by the action of
the stomach and the gastric fluid, into a pulpy, por-
raceous mass, called chyme. It is highly important
that chyme, from which the blood is made, should
be good. But if food is eaten, which is wholly
unfit for the human stomach, or if proper food be
eaten in an improper manner, without attention to
mastication, how can the chyme formed be good ?
In order that chymification be properly performed,
and good chyme be the result, we must eat proper
food in a proper manner. We must not load the
stomach with an excess of food more than the
system needs to supply waste ; if we do, the gas-
tric fluid will be exhausted, and all the horrors of
dyspepsia will be upon us.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 139
When the chyme is formed, it is forced by the
contractile power of the stomach into the duode-
num. Duodenum is derived from duodenus, con-
sisting of twelve ; because this first portion of the
intestines is supposed to be about twelve inches long.
It there meets with the bile from the liver, and also
with the pancreatic juice, a fluid much resembling the
saliva. This pancreatic juice comes from the pan-
creas, or sweet bread. The name is derived from
the Greek pas, all, and creas, flesh, it being a fleshy
substance. The pancreas is a large gland that lies
across the spine, a little below the stomach.
The chyle is taken up by absorbents called lac-
teals, and carried and mixed with the blood, and
forms nutriment for the system. What is left is a
yellowish mass, of more consistency, and is the
indigestible or excrementitious remains of the food.
This mass traverses the whole length of the intes-
tinal canal, and is mixed with waste matter from
the blood, &c., which is also thrown off through
the same channel.
It would give me great pleasure to tell you more
of the process of digestion, and those organs partic-
ularly concerned in it. But I cannot do this in so
limited a course as this is. I can only tell you some
facts, I can only glance at subjects as we glance
at objects on a rail-road. I can take no leisurely
surveys of the ground over which we pass. But it
is better to learn something than nothing j and here-
140 LECTURES ON
after we may have opportunity for more particular
and scientific inquiry into these subjects.
I would urge upon all those who wish accurate
and extended knowledge on these subjects, to study
Graham's " Lectures on the Science of Human
Life," a work which no one should neglect to read,
who wishes to know himself; a work which is
probably greater, and destined to be of more use,
than any uninspired work ever written.
In structure, the intestines much resemble the
stomach. They consist, like the stomach, of three
coats, the outer, or peritoneal ; the middle, or
muscular; and the internal mucous or villous, or
velvetty coat. The peritoneal is a white, smooth,
firm membrane. It serves as a support, a medium
of attachment, to fix the intestines in their places.
Its smooth moist surface admits readily of the mo-
tion of the intestines, their gliding over each other,
and their change of place, when we breathe, or
when the stomach is distended. The motion com-
municated to the intestines, when we breathe, facil-
itates their action. You will recollect that muscles
are the instruments of motion. The middle coat of
the intestines, like that of the stomach, is composed
of transverse and longitudinal fibres. By the alter-
nate contraction of these two kinds of muscular
fibres, the excrementitious matter in the intestines is
propelled downward, and thus cast off.
It is important that the food should consist of
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 141
nutritious and innutritious matter. When thus duly
balanced, the nutritious matter is separated and goes
into the blood, and the innutritious matter passes off
through the intestines, and keeps up the peristaltic
or worm-like action or motion of the bowels. If
there is no innutritious matter in the food, this mo-
tion cannot be kept up in the intestines; and, you
will remember, if an organ is not used, we lose the
use of it ; and if there is nothing to keep up the
action of the intestines, costiveness and disease are
the sure results. Many take too nutritious food,
and consequently the action of the bowels ceases.
They resort to drastic medicine " physic," as they
term it " to restore the action of the bowels."
They do indeed stimulate the bowels to action.
These substances, usually known by the name dras-
tic or purgative medicines, are in fact poisonous.
The system, by its various organs, goes to work
immediately to expel them, when they are taken.
By applying the term poisonous to such medicines,
I do not wish you to understand that 1 consider
them like arsenic or prussic acid but that they
are poisonous, that they are inimical to the best in-
terests of the system, is plain, by the labor that
ensues for their expulsion, when taken into the sys-
tem. We may need such medicines at times, per-
haps. When something wrong is in the system, we
can get it thrown off by introducing something that
142 LECTURES OW
the system will expel, because the recent mischief
and the prior one are thus expelled or thrown out
of the system together. Great judgment is neces-
sary, to enable an individual to determine when to
take medicine.
In common with the skin, the internal mucous
or velvetty coat of the stomach has to perform two
functions, that of excretion, or throwing out, and
that of absorption, or taking in. It has a great num-
ber of minute vessels on its surface, from the ex-
tremities of which excretion takes place. By these
vessels much of the waste matter that ought to be
thrown out of the system, is removed. This waste
matter is poured into the intestines, mixes with the
excrementitious matter, and is thus cast out.
Drastic or purgative medicines greatly excite
the excretory vessels of the intestines. They secrete
or excrete fluid with great rapidity, when these
medicines are taken ; they excite the excretory
vessels, and these vessels pour out fluid into the
intestines, often in large quantities. Those who
take purgatives, think that there must be much
that needs to be " physicked off," as it is vulgarly
termed, merely, from the fact, that the excretory
vessels are excited to undue action, and thus rapidly
secrete and pour forth fluids that did not before
exist in the intestines. You will see at once, that
when these vessels are thus unduly excited, much
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 143
relaxation, want of tone, and often dryness, and
inflammation will be likely to follow. The excre-
tories cannot act to throw off waste matter, nor to
secrete a lubricating fluid, to assist the intestines in
keeping up the peristaltic action, even when the
food has a sufficiency of innutritious matter. Much
of that troublesome costiveness, that prevails amongst
almost all classes, but particularly the sedentary,
may be remedied by taking proper food, where nu-
trition, and innutrition are properly balanced, and
by attention to exercise. I think I have plainly
shown that purgative medicines aggravate the evil.
I by no means wish you to understand that these
medicines are never necessary. But no one should
take them without the best advice. This tamper-
ing with medicines, purgative especially, is doing
an amount of mischief hardly to be calculated. I
have known an individual to take purgatives for in-
flammation of the lungs. Many do not know where
the stomach is situated. They merely know they
have a stomach, and if there is distress any where
in the cavity of the chest, they take it for grapted
it is in the stomach, and forthwith take a dose of
II physic." It is truly lamentable, and yet some-
times laughable, to see the mistakes they make.
Some medicines stimulate the mucous membrane
of the intestines to such a degree, that they are as
it were burned up. The spirituous liquors distilled
144 LECTURES ON
from rye infected with the ergot, or " spurred rye,"
has this effect. A portion of the intestines of those
who have died from drinking this double poison,
have been found so acted upon by the poison, that
they would crumble to ashes under the mere pres-
sure of the finger of the dissector.
The regular and due action of these excretory
vessels should be kept up by taking food in which
nutrition and innutrition are properly blended.
Magendie found by experiment, that animals fed
on substances purely nutritious, did not live much
beyond forty days. If at the end of forty days
their food was changed, and those substances given
which contain nutritious and innutritious matter, it
made no difference. Though they devoured the
new food with greediness, still they fell off and
soon died.
We here see how Providence has adapted the
food of man to the structure of man. But when
we separate the purely nutritious parts of food from
those parts the Creator has designed to be used
with the nutrition, we do ourselves great injury.
Magendie found that a dog fed at discretion on
pure wheaten bread and water, does not live be-
yond fifty days ; whilst one fed on the coarse mili-
tary bread, seems in no respect to suffer. Animal
oil, one of the most difficult substances in the world
to digest, is eaten by the Greenlanders mixed with
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 145
saw-dust, and by means of this purely innutritions
matter, a quantity is assimmilated, we can hardly
say digested, sufficient to sustain life; though it
is indeed a miserable existence, that is thus sus-
tained. In some parts of the world poultry are fed
on charcoal and fat. They are thus fatted, ren-
dered greasy, by the assimilation of oil. The char-
coal enables them to live, by keeping up the action
of the intestines, and the fat answers the purpose of
nutrition. The appetite mankind have for grease,
is truly astonishing. A substance so nearly taste-
less, and that subjects us to so much distress, when
taken into the stomach, one would suppose would
be little used.
The importance of the due admixture of nutri-
tious and innutritious matter in our food, may be fur-
ther demonstrated by an experiment of Magendie.
" He fed a dog three years old, and in good con-
dition, solely on pure white sugar and distilled
water. For seven or eight days the animal ap-
peared to thrive well, was lively, and ate and drank
with avidity. In the second week he began to fall
off, though his appetite continued good, and he ate
six or eight ounces of sugar in twenty-four hours.
The emaciation went on progressing as well as the
loss of strength. He died on the thirty-second day
from the commencement of the experiment."
Other dogs were submitted to the same experi-
146 LECTURES ON
ments, and with the same results. He tried also
olive oil, and gum arabic, with similar results.
A distinguished physician of Philadelphia after-
ward fed dogs on sugar mixed with saw-dust, and
they continued in good case.
Another set of vessels are spread over the inter-
nal or velvetty coat of the intestines. These are
the lacteals or absorbents, that take up the chyle
from the chyme. The chyle is carried in a direct
line up the spine by the thoracic duct. It is
emptied into the left subclavian vein, and is thence
carried across to the right side of the heart. It is
gradually introduced, and then it is carried into the
lungs, and comes in contact with the air, and
undergoes those changes essential to its vitality.
Breathing is considered, and justly too, the com-
pletion of the process of digestion.
Proper food may be introduced into the stomach,
at proper times, and digestion may go on regularly ;
good chyme may be formed, and good chyle, but
the chyle must come in contact with the air, or it
cannot be made good blood. And if we have not
good blood, the body cannot be properly nourished,
the whole system will become diseased, and very
soon digestion will be disturbed, and the whole
machinery will go wrong. People commit a hun-
dred mistakes, through ignorance of anatomy and
physiology. I have explained to you the nature
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 147
of the mistake people make when they take purga-
tive medicines to throw off what the medicine in
reality creates. A similar mistake is made with
emetics. People take emetics to clear the stomach
of bile that is not there, but which is thrown up
from the gall bladder and duodenum, by the invert-
ed action of the stomach and intestines. At first,
the contents of the stomach are thrown up, but this
does not satisfy the patients. They want to see the
bile, that is not in the stomach, but which they
think is there. It is true, at times there may be
bile in the stomach, nauseating the sufferer, but
probably in nine cases out of ten, it is brought into
the stomach, and thrown up, by the action of the
emetic.
I have now shown you that digestion and assim-
ilation take place in the stomach and intestines ;
that neither the stomach or intestines are adapted
to very concentrated aliment. Many people are
troubled with costiveness, and habitually pay much
for medicine, merely because their food is too nutri-
tious. There is no waste or excrementitious mat-
ter to keep up the peristaltic action of the bowels.
There is, in fact, nothing to cast out of the system.
All, or nearly all, is nutrition, and is consequently
all absorbed.
A lady may think she lives very simple, and in
a manner conducive to health, when she lives on
148 LECTURES ON
rice and milk, or flour bread and milk. But pre-
sently she finds herself under the necessity, as she
supposes, of taking aperient or purgative medicines
to excite the action of the bowels. She supposes,
in her ignorance, that much stuff is lodged in the
bowels, because little has passed off. But the truth
is, the rice, milk and flour bread are so purely nutri-
tious, that they are nearly all absorbed, and there is
next to nothing to cast off. Now if this person
resorts to purgative medicines, they will excite the
excretories to undue action ; disease, inflammation,
and derangement of the internal organs, will be the
inevitable consequence. Dreadful mistakes of this
kind are committed every day. Oh, that a knowl-
edge of physiology could be spread all over our
beloved land, and that men and women might no
longer be the dupes of quacks and impostors, and
the slaves of ignorance 1
LECTURE VIH.
DIETETICS.
IN my last lecture 1 explained the process of
chymification and chylification. We now come to
a consideration of that kind of aliment which is best
__
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 149
suited to the constitution of man. Various opinions
have been entertained and advanced, by different
physiologists, with regard to what was intended as
the food of man. Some consider that his organiza-
tion indicates that he should feed on vegetables
alone. Others consider that a mixed diet is indi-
cated by his organization. We know life can be
sustained on grain, fruits, or flesh.
We have reason to believe, as I shall show here-
after, that the health of flesh eaters is not as perfect
as that of vegetable eaters, nor their lives as long.
Still travellers in North or South America have been
sustained in what they considered perfect health,
exclusively on the flesh of wild animals. It should
be remembered, however, that such flesh is not to
be compared with the flesh of those animals which
are diseased, corrupted and perverted by man.
Some people seem to think that they may neglect
their habits, and eat any thing and every thing, if
they eat no flesh. " Why," say they, " I am very
temperate. I live on the ' Graham system.' I
don't eat any meat." It is vain, it is useless, and
worse than useless, for people to leave animal food,
and run into far greater abuses than the moderate
use of plain, healthy flesh meat. It is true, I do
not eat animal food ; but I am sure I might eat
what would be much worse for me. And the
excessive use of good vegetables, in many instances,
150 LECTURES ON
does more injury than the moderate use of flesh
would do. I am far from pleading for the use of
animal food, by animal food I mean what has
had life, but I would have people rational. I be-
lieve, with that father in medicine, Dr. Cullen :
" Vegetable aliment," says Cullen, "as never over-
distending the vessels, or loading the system, never
interrupts the stronger emotions of the mind ; while
the heat, fulness, and weight of animal food is an
enemy to its vigorous efforts."
Again, he says, "I am firmly persuaded that any
man, who early in life will enter upon the constant
practice of bodily labor, and of abstinence from ani-
mal food, will be preserved entirely from disease."
I can bring quotation upon quotation from old
and established writers on medicine and health, to
prove that in their opinion vegetable diet was most
conducive to health. 1 am not about to say man
cannot live on this thing or that thing. We know
man can live upon almost any thing; experience
has abundantly demonstrated this fact. The poor
inhabitant of the frozen regions can live, upon train
oil and saw-dust : but this does not prove it is best
for him. Our object is to become convinced what
diet is best for us, what is most conducive to make
us, physically, mentally and morally, what we should
be. I know it is not admitted, or even thought of,
by many good people, that diet has any effect upon
--^
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 151
the morals of a people. I once saw a paper that
advocated the doctrine that the animal propensities
were unduly stimulated by stimulating food, such as
highly seasoned meats, Sic. " Away with such
nonsense," said a good man, to whom I gave the
paper. He would not even look at the sentiment,
much less examine it, and condemn it afterward.
From the concurrent testimony of the greatest med-
ical writers, from the testimony of numerous indi-
viduals who have made experiments to determine
the effects of animal food, we are led to conclude,
that animal food is more stimulating than vegetable ;
that it increases vascular action ; and that it is, hence,
very ill suited for people of consumptive habits.
But it is not to be denied, that many of the ill effects
attributed to animal food, are occasioned by the con-
diments and oils used with it. Flesh is, I allow,
more stimulating than vegetables, and 1 am satisfied
that the animal propensities are much influenced by
a stimulating diet. This sentiment may appear, to
those who have not examined the subject, ultra.
Dr. Cullen says, " it is animal food that especially
predisposes to the plethoric and inflammatory state,
and that food is therefore to be especially avoided."
We may not conclude from this, that Dr. C. used
no animal food ; but if honest in his sentiments, we
must be led to conclude that he was sparing and
temperate in its use. I know a physician of emi-
152 LECTURES ON
.
nence in his profession, who for about twelve years
almost entirely left the use of animal food. I heard
him remark, " I have eaten very little flesh since I
studied medicine."
Dr. William Lambe, of London, a distinguished
physician and scholar, a prominent member of the
college of physicians, and author of several valuable
works, is now about seventy-six years of age, and
has lived upon vegetable food thirty-four years.
The following quotations are from a work entitled
" Additional Reports on the effects of a peculiar
regimen in cases of cancer, scrofula, consumption,
asthma, and other chronic diseases." " We see
daily examples of young persons becoming con-
sumptive, who never went without animal food a
day of their lives. If the use of animal food were
necessary to prevent consumption, we should expect
where people lived almost exclusively upon such a
diet, that the disease would be unknown. Now
the Indian tribes visited by Hearne lived in this
manner. They do not cultivate the earth. They
subsist by hunting and the scanty produce of spon-
taneous vegetation. But among these tribes con-
sumption is common. Their diseases according to
Hearne are fluxes, scurvy, and consumption."
Dr. Lambe further says, " In the last four years
several cases of glandular swellings have occurred
to me, at the general dispensary, and I have made
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 153
particular inquiries into the mode of living of such
children. In the majority of cases they had animal
food.
" It seems certain that animal food, predisposes
to disease. Timoric in his account of the plague
at Constantinople asserts, that the Armenians, who
live chiefly on vegetable food, were far less disposed
to the disease, than other people. Contagions act
with great virulence upon bodies prepared by a
full diet of animal food."
The same great man says further, " The use of
animal food hurries on life with an unnatural and
unhealthy rapidity. We arrive at puberty too
soon, the passions are developed too early, in the
male they acquire an impetuosity approaching to
madness ; females become mothers too early ; and
too frequently, and finally, the system becomes pre-
maturely exhausted, and destroyed, and we become
diseased and old, when we ought to be in middle
life." Professor Lawrence, author of Lectures on
Physiology, member of the Royal College of Sur-
geons, London, Professor of Anatomy and Surgery
to the college, and surgeon to several hospitals, has
the following remarks respecting the indications
afforded by our anatomical character, which are,
as you will perceive, decisive in favor of vegetable
diet.
" Physiologists have usually represented that our
11
154 LECTURES ON
species holds a middle rank, in the masticatory and
digestive apparatus, between the flesh eating and
herbivorous animals, a statement which seems rather
to have been deduced from what we have learned
by experience on the subject than to result from an
actual comparison between men and animals. The
teeth and jaws of men are in all respects much
more similar to those of monkeys, than any other
animal. Thus we find that whether we consider
the teeth, the jaws, or the immediate instruments of
digestion, the human structure closely resembles
that of the simiae, (monkey race,) all of which in
their natural state are completely herbivorous."
Many things are to be considered, if we would
preserve health and life, beside diet. We should
not neglect any thing which will preserve health
and life. We have no right to throw away a par-
ticle of either. If we can, by pursuing a particular
course, have more of bodily and mental vigor, and
have our passions more under our control, are we
not bound to adopt this course ? That a course
of temperance will secure us against many evils, I
think none are prepared to deny. But the ques-
tion is, what is temperance? I answer, what I
consider temperance, is plain food, in moderate
quantities. A person may be strictly temperate,
and yet eat animal food. But no person can in
my estimation be considered temperate who in-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 155
dulges in large quantities of animal food, with the
usual accompaniments of such food. It is surely a
much greater waste of life to take animal than
vegetable food, because animal food is more exci-
ting, more stimulating; it increases vascular action.
A temporary fever is the consequence of a full meal
of flesh, what the old medical writers used to
call the fever of digestion. They were accustomed
to see people who ate meat have this state of fever,
and as probably all ate meat who came under their
notice, they concluded that this fever of digestion,
as they called it, was a natural state. But those
who live on vegetable food have none of this " fever
of digestion." I have tried both methods, and know
what it is to be thirsty, and feverish, after my meals
of flesh, and other stimulating and healing food, and
I know what it is not to be thirsty, and not to take
fluid, or even think of taking it, for weeks, except
the fruits that I ate with my meals, and a cup of
milk, perhaps, with two of my meals in the day.
Now this stimulating diet makes the vital current
hurry on its course, and there is a waste of life in
proportion to this excess of action. Whatever in-
creases vascular action, in other words the circula-
tion of the blood, wears out the vital powers, faster
than they would otherwise wear out. The manner
in which stimulating food, condiments, &c., wear
out our vital powers, is very analogous to the effect
156 LECTURES ON
of ardent spirits, only it is a more gradual work,
The aromatic condiments stimulate the stomach
and digestive organs, and they furnish a temporary
assistance to digestion, just as wine or brandy may
do this ; but it is at a great expense to the stomach,
and, through the stomach, to the rest of the system ;
for the connection and sympathy is very intimate
between the stomach and all parts of the system,
as all parts derive their nourishment from the stomach.
All these stimuli, whether condiments or ardent
spirits, prematurely wear out the powers of the
system, and the individual who uses them dies be-
fore the time. If any live to old age, who use them,
it dees not prove that they are useful ; it only proves
that " mankind are tough," and will live long, in
spite of abuses. If they can live so long with such
abuses, how long might they live, were their habits
what they should be ?
Speaking of condiments, Professor Hitchcock
says, those who do not use them, " will not expe-
rience that temporary glow and excitement of one
whose system is braced up by a tonic diet, but he
will enjoy comfort and serenity of mind, long after
the other is in his grave."
The same writer, speaking of milk diet, says,
" A diet chiefly of milk produces a most happy
serenity, vigor and cheerfulness of mind, very differ-
ent from the gloomy, crabbed and irritable temper
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 157
and foggy intellect of the man who devours flesh,
fish and fowl, with ravenous appetite, and adds pud-
ding, pies and cakes to the load."
I agree with this truly great man, with respect to
milk, where the habit of the individual is such that
milk agrees with him or her. Those who have a
tendency to fat, will do well to abstain from milk,
and those who take milk, should take it in small
quantities. People err much, by thinking milk light
food, and taking too much at a time. They thus
overload the stomach, and produce headache and
other evils, which might be avoided by taking a small
quantity. Another error to be guarded against is,
eating fine bread with milk. There is hardly any
innutritious matter in fine bread and milk ; and, as
I have already told you, the nutriment is conveyed
into the blood, and there is no innutritious matter to
keep up the peristaltic action of the intestines ; and
where the diet is wholly of fine bread and milk,
costiveness, and often inflammation and serious dis-
ease are the consequence.
If such bland and apparently innocuous food as
flour bread and milk, will produce such results,
what are we to think will be the effect of the various
kinds of high seasoned food, taken hot ? We are
to remember that the stomach is lined with an ex-
ceedingly delicate membrane, and that this mem-
brane is continued through the intestines. In post
LECTURES ON
mortem examinations, this membrane is found dis-
eased, covered with eruptions of various kinds.
Animal food is of itself very stimulating; but
this is a slight evil, compared with the compounds
that are taken into the stomach. The basis may
be flesh ; it may be healthy, it may be diseased ;
but of all the flesh brought into the market, \ve may
safely conclude that but a small portion is healthy.
In speaking of what enters the stomach, we will
begin with the flesh ; then there is red and black
pepper, mustard, horse-radish, catsup, vinegar,
pickles, peppers, and pepper-sauce. At times spirits
are taken with such a dinner; but we will leave
them out, as we have reason to hope that remarks
on spirits will touch no one who reads these lectures.
But hot coffee is taken, so hot that it would scald,
almost, the external skin. Here is this mixture,
lying in contact with the delicate lining membrane
of the stomach, at a high temperature ! What must
be the inevitable consequence ? for fever is im-
mediately induced by such a meal.
If people doubt that these mixtures would produce
a blister, applied to the external skin, just let them
try it. Perhaps some of you have tried mustard
or pepper, in case of ague or toothache. Such will
not need to try it again. And I can assure you,
that the mucous membrane of the stomach is far
more delicate and tender than the external skin.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 159
What then must be the situation of the stomach ?
Can it be healthy ? No it cannot. We are not
left without proof positive on this subject. Post
mortem examinations reveal tremendous facts, and
show, that in cases where people called themselves
well, there was internal disease disease of the mu-
cous membrane of the stomach and intestines,
which must have been of long standing. The
stomach of Alexis St. Martin presented proof posi-
tive of the hurtful effects of food in common use.
After dining on oysters, the internal membrane of
the stomach was found to have ulcerated patches,
and other diseased appearances presented them-
selves. After eating broiled veal, fried sausages,
&c., (very common articles of food, and by many
not even suspected to be unhealthy,) St. M.'s
stomach presented diseased appearances of a for-
midable character. But he complained of no sense
of pain, symptoms of indisposition, or even of im-
paired appetite, when the mucous membrane of the
stomach was inflamed, ulcerated, and even bleeding.
The following is an extract from Dr. Beaumont
on gastric fluid : " August 3d, inner membrane
of the stomach unusually morbid. The erythema-
tous (inflammatory) appearance more extensive, and
spots more livid than usual, from the surface of
which exuded small drops of grumous blood ; the
aphthous (ulcerated) patches, larger and more nu-
160 LECTURES ON
merous, the mucous covering thicker than common,
and the gastric secretions much more vitiated. The
gastric fluids extracted at this time, were mixed with
a large proportion of thick, ropy mucus, and consid-
erable muco-purulent matter, slightly tinged with
blood, resembling the discharge from the bowels, in
some cases of chronic dysentery."
Notwithstanding all these diseased appearances,
St. M. complained of little distress. To be sure,
he bad an uneasy sensation and tenderness, at
the pit of the stomach ; he had some dizziness
and dimness of vision, when he stooped and rose
again.
Now how many would call themselves well, when
they had such troubles as these ? St. M.'s course,
to produce these diseased appearances, had been
precisely similar to the course of a great many who
do not dream that they are doing any thing wrong.
True, they have ill turns, but then they are " sub-
ject to ill turns" So they tell us, and many seem
to have no idea that by pursuing a different course,
they might get rid of this slavish subjection.
When I hear people say, " I have a dreadful sick
headache, once a week, or once a month," as the
case may be ; ' and I don't expect to get rid of it,
all our family were subject to sick headache," I
think she who complains, and " all her family,"
were wrong in their habits. Let one who has sick
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 161
head-ache take a moderate quantity of plain food
in the morning, say a slice of good bread, not made
of fine flour, an apple, a pear, or any good fruit.
If milk agree with her habit, let her take a small
cup of milk, or she may take some gruel, or rice
broth made without flesh, if she must have fluid
to supply the place of coffee, which by the way
does more to produce headache than almost any
one thing.
Let this sufferer take such a breakfast at six or
seven o'clock, (six is the best hour for summer, and
seven for winter,) and let her take nothing except
good cold water into her stomach till noon ; then let
her take a plain dinner. She may eat boiled vege-
tables, peas or beans, but she must not eat " pork "
with these vegetables, for the oil is so difficult of
digestion, that she will surely find herself in trouble
if she does. There are many forms of plain food ;
there is an almost endless variety, instead of the
starvation which many imagine, where no animal
food and no oil is taken. Good bread is the main
article, then boiled vegetables, peas, beans, rice,
rice pudding, sago, tapioca, and fruits, baked, and
cooked in other ways. O, the world is full of good
things, without eating the dead ! Let the sufferer
from periodical headache, or indeed from any ache,
make a selection from these good things, and not
take too much variety, be guarded on this point, and
162 LECTURES ON
leave tea and coffee, take her meals at regular inter-
vals, about six hours apart, and take no luncheons.
Let her take exercise enough, and not too much,
let her retire to bed at nine or ten, and rise at four,
five, or six ; five is the best for most people, six will
do, and four for those who can receive it ; let
her bathe the whole surface of the body daily, either
in warm or cold water, and rub the skin dry with
a hard crash towel ; let her regularly do this, and
she may expect improved health, if there is any
vital energy left to improve. Let mothers pursue
this course with themselves, and with their chil-
dren, with this variation ; children have to support
the continual waste of the system, and growth
also, and they must have food oftener than those
who have got their growth. But a great mistake
is committed by giving children food too often.
Small children should have a lunch, midway be-
tween their meals, forenoon and afternoon, and at
no other time ; larger children should have a lunch
only in the forenoon. It is an error to feed children,
and put them directly to bed. How many poor
children are fed with, or allowed to eat, hot fine
flour bread and butler, mince pie, or some other
rich pie, and rich cake, and then put to bed ; and
they are blamed for being " cross," as it is called,
after being allowed to eat such improper food.
The mother knows the child is sick often, and rest-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 163
less and uneasy nearly all the time. But she
makes no alteration in its food, or in her manage-
ment of it. She may have lost several children at
two or three years of age, but she seems to think it
was a special dispensation of Providence, and not
in the least to be set to the account of her manage-
ment of her child. She does not reflect that her
rooms were perhaps improperly aired, and that bad
air did its part toward diseasing her infant. She
does not know that it is of the highest importance,
in order that the functions of the skin be properly
performed, that her child should be bathed daily.
She does not know that very often diarrhoeas are
produced to carry off waste and hurtful particles
from the body, that ought to be thrown off through
the pores of the skin. She is frightened at the
diarrhoea, and gives the poor infant some astringent,
or supposed astringent, to stop it, perhaps boiled
milk, or flour boiled in milk. You know how this
operates ; as there is no innutritions matter in the
flour and milk, there is little to pass off through the
intestines. But perhaps the poor child does not
get off so easily. It must be subjected to a course
of domestic practice. It must take tincture of rhu-
barb, or some quack medicine, and if the mother
is bold enough, even calomel. I have known a
mother give her infant calomel, dose after dose.
O ! that some one could speak on this subject, with
164 LECTURES ON
a voice that might be heard from the Atlantic to
the Pacific ! O ! that mothers could be taught,
not two or three hundred, but thousands and tens
of thousands, to let deadly mixtures alone, to sub-
stitute a warm bath for a dose of poison. When
children are thus disordered, often nothing is neces-
sary, but a rational course with respect to food,
bathing, clothing, and air.
I would not have you understand that I think
medicine always unnecessary, even though I con-
sider it poisonous. But if children must be so man-
aged, or rather mismanaged, as to be sick, let the
parents have the best advice. Let there be no
resort to regular or irregular quackery. That mother
who gives her child a dose of quack medicine, or
opium, or paregoric, or " Godfrey's cordial," or any
of any of the numerous deadly mixtures now in the
market, goes far toward putting a knife to its throat ;
and often the consequence is more to be lamented,
as the poor little sufferer lingers along and suffers
almost a thousand deaths.
The premature developement of the passions,
under a stimulating diet, is well worthy our serious
consideration. I know there are many good people
who are not prepared to think eating and drinking
have any thing to do with licentiousness. Though
I shall follow out this subject hereafter, I must
glance at it now. The day has gone by, in which
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 165
it is necessary to prove that ardent spirits, even in
small quantities, degrade and sensualize. But many
take as hurtful injesta as ardent spirits. We can
look at this subject, I mean the sensualizing
effects of rich, stimulating food. It will do no harm
to examine ; " truth and oil will come uppermost ! "
"Prove all things, and hold fast that which is
good."
I once read, in a medical work, of a young tiger
who was reared in a family, and was perfectly
gentle whilst he was kept on vegetable food. His
master was taken ill, and bled. After being bled,
he slept, and his arm bled again, by a displacement
of the bandage. The tiger was on the bed with
his master, and licked the blood from his arm ; he
became furious immediately. No measures could
tame him, and they were obliged to shoot him.
The following is the testimony of Dr. Dick,
author of the " Philosophy of Religion," and sev-
eral other works deservedly popular : " To take
the life of any sensitive being, and to feed on its
flesh, appears incompatible with a state of inno-
cence, and therefore no such grant was given to
Adam in Paradise, nor to the antediluvians. It
appears to have been a grant suited only to the
degraded state of man after the deluge, and it is
probable that as he advances in the scale of moral
perfection, in the future ages of the world, the use
166 LECTURES ON
of animal food will be gradually laid aside, and he
will return again to the productions of the vegetable
kingdom, as the original food of man ; as that which
is best suited to the rank of rational and moral intel-
ligence. And perhaps it may have an influence,
in combination with other favorable circumstances,
in promoting health and longevity."
LECTURE IX.
DIETETICS.
1 HAVE spoken, in a former lecture, of the injurious
effects of grease, of any oily substance or compound,
when taken into the stomach. The more I study,
the more I observe, the more satisfied I am that
grease or oil, in whatever form it may be taken, is
one of the most powerful agents in producing cuta-
neous eruptions, and what are termed " humors."
Understand me, I do not think this one article alone
produces all the humors and cutaneous eruptions,
but that it exerts a powerful influence in producing
them. Abernethy says, " The great cause of all
variations in the skin is to be met with in the diges-
tive organs."
Some time since I gave advice in the case of a
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 167
child, who was a most loathsome spectacle, having
been " afflicted with a humor," as its parents said,
from about the time it began to feed freely. One
eye seemed nearly destroyed, and, on the whole, I
hardly ever saw a more pitiable object. " What is
the child's food ? " I asked immediately. It is
worthy of note, that people almost universally know
that grease, butter, &tc., are bad for what are termed
" humors." The mother replied, " My child craves
every thing she ought not to eat, and the doctor did
not tell us to make any difference in the child's
diet." The fact was, the child was very sick,
most of the time ; it was, of course, indulged in
what was improper for it, what was killing it,
merely because it was ill, or because it was being
killed. " The doctor " was drugging the child,
without paying any attention to its habits. The
parents had spent almost every thing they possessed
on physicians, and the child was nothing benefitted,
but rather grew worse. I confess I had little con-
fidence that any thing could save the pitiable object
before me. Poor little suffering innocent my
heart ached for it. I gave the mother some ad-
vice ; the most important part of which was, to
bathe the whole surface of the child's body in warm
water thoroughly every day, and to exclude oils of
every kind from its food. The consequence was,
that in less than three months the child was nearly
168 LECTURES ON
well, and I presume that in a few months more
it became perfectly well, if they continued to fol-
low the directions. By pursuing a simple and
rational course like this, how many thousands might
be saved every year, that are now paid for regular
and irregular quackery.
Let no one for a moment suppose that I denounce
the regular and rational practice of medicine. Far
from it. I honor the regular and rational profession.
I respect, I revere, I prize most highly, those truly
scientific and noble minded men who are an orna-
ment to the profession. But quackery I detest,
let it be found where it may, either in the medical
profession, or out of it. This dosing continually
with medicine, to please a patient, or line the pock-
ets of a practitioner, deserves the severest reproba-
tion. Medicine is a necessary evil. 1 have much
confidence in medicine, judiciously administered.
But 1 have learned enough of the wonderful mechan-
ism of " the house I live in " to dread, worse than
disease, the unskilful use of medicine. It is indeed
" playing with edge tools," to give medicines at
random. People take Brandreth's pills, and other
quack medicines, at hap-hazard, for whatever diffi-
culty they may have. It may be disorder of the
heart, or inflammation of the lungs, or the stomach
may have been overworked, till it refuses to work
longer. No matter what may be the trouble, down
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 169
goes a dose of Brandreth's pills, or Indian Purgative,
or whatever happens to be in fashion. A few years
since the " celebrated Hygeian " pills were curing
every thing; at least so said its unprincipled or
ignorant advertisers. Now Brandreth's pills, or
Indian Purgative, and lastly, if I have kept the track
rightly, of which, by the way, I am by no means
sure, lastly, comes the " Tomcttinc" a new con-
trivance to gull people out of money and probably
health,* for 1 have no belief that the inventors of
the " tomatine " will content themselves with as
harmless articles as tomatoes, or seed cucumbers, of
which to manufacture quack pills, or drops, as the
case may be.
But many are determined to be gulled and im-
posed upon. They must have medicine of some
kind, and unless the physician is inflexible, they
will have it. If the physician will not dose them
sufficiently, they will make up the difference by
taking quack medicines. Thus physicians often
feel obliged to keep up the delusion by giving some
harmless article called medicine, to keep the patient
from taking some deadly mixture. But knowledge
cannot advance in this way. To give such harm-
* Since this was written, quack doctors and nostrum makers have
' by no means rested from their labors. They have rather " doubled
their diligence." If any one wishes for a medicine which will infal-
libly cure every ill which flesh is heir to, he has only to take up the
nearest paper, and he will assuredly find it advertised.
12
170 LECTURES ON
less articles, is acknowledging ihe principle that
medicine is necessary, when it is not necessary.
This mode of procedure may save a life now and
then, for a little while, but it is fastening down the
veil of ignorance, and will eventually produce much
evil. It is better, far better, to enlighten, even
though it can be done but slowly. Let people de-
stroy themselves if they will with medicines, but let
not physicians aid them in the work of death. A
physician may do as Professor Muzzey did, give a
good lady pills made of brown bread, because she
was determined to have medicine. I am not about
to say Prof. M. did wrong, for after the lady had
recovered, and was praising his pills, he told her
what they were made of.
A physician of my acquaintance, whose mother
was obliged always to take calomel pills, at a cer-
tain season of the year, substituted bread pills, and
his mother assured him they had a very powerful
effect, and relieved her immediately.
But circumstances might prevent a physician
froai telling a patient of the imposition, and they
might want, or think they wanted more pills, and
they would not often be able to get those that were
as harmless as Prof. M.'s. After all, "honesty is
the best policy," and if a patient needs advice, let
him have it ; if he needs medicine, let him have it.
But let him be sure he needs it. Let him be sure
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 171
all is right with his habits. A skilful physician may
do all that can be done, and a patient may undo,
faster than the physician can do, by improper habits.
In a medical work of much value, I find the
following : " Errors in diet are the great source of
disease ; amendment of diet is the great basis of
recovery. Medicines may relieve or suspend the
majority of diseases, but medicines can never cure,
without the aid of regimen." And Abernethy says,
" I say it is horribly absurd, and I have no patience
to hear and see what I do, as if medicine could
cure a disease. They are the means which we
employ to correct faulty action in the various func-
tions of the body." Now what are we to think of
those empirics, who pay no attention to the hab-
its of those to whom they sell medicine. " O ! "
say they, "you may eat and drink what you please,
if you will take the medicine. We lay no restric-
tion with regard to diet." And many would rather
give hundreds of dollars, than deny themselves their
favorite indulgences. The effect of grease, of oil of
every kind, upon the stomach and system, are very
far from being understood. There is no question
but some oil is digested, especially in cold climates,
by aid of the bile, by being made with the bile into
a kind of soap ; but all medical and physiological
testimony shows that it is very difficult of digestion,
even after being mixed with the bile. When di
172 LECTURES ON
gested, it is by an unnatural and unhealthy process.
What is not carried through this kind of difficult
and unhealthy digestion, is left to fester in the sys-
tem. Often the organs carry it as far as the sur-
face, and it there forms the basis of a cutaneous
eruption. If there is not strength enough in the
system to carry it thus far, we have assurance of
some internal difficulty, eruption, or trouble of some
kind. Many people seem to have no idea, that
they lay themselves open to disease, and invite it,
by a rich, stimulating and oily diet. If the small
pox were at their doors, and they had never been
vaccinated, they would feel the necessity of using
plain, wholesome food. They would not dare load
and irritate the system with oils, salt, &tc. Yet
they seem wholly unconscious, that a regimen that
will enable them to pass with safety through small
pox, will enable them to pass with safety through
any other disease, or to resist its attacks altogether.
Yet this is the fact. All the disorders incident to
childhood have been divested of their terrors to my
child, merely because she has been reared in a
degree of temperance. I say a degree, for her
habits have been far from right. It is a sad thing
to have friends, sometimes, especially when they
influence us or our children to do wrong.
I have seen a child struck down, as it were, in a
moment, with scarlet fever, with a lunch of rich
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 173
cake in its hand. The child had been reared on
rich, stimulating food. That fever might be de-
scribed in one word. It was death. Whilst another
child, who had been kept in a good degree of tem-
perance, and bathed occasionally, was violently
seized with this same fever, and by rational treat-
ment passed with safety through it, never refraining
entirely from play on any day of its illness, and only
remaining five days in the house.
In many cases of scarlet fever, all that seems
necessary is abstinence from food, pure air, cleanli-
ness, and bathing with cold water, when the heat
is great, and with warm water when the patient is
chilly.
I know some children, who have not been reared
in temperance, may pass with safety through this
and similar disorders ; but the chances are greatly
against them, and their getting through with safety
does not prove that temperance is of no value. It
merely proves that the child is tough. Some years
since the small pox raged in the north part of Ver-
mont and Canada. Many families were inoculated
with it. All who did not have the disorder the
natural way, were inoculated. I passed some time
there, some years after this. Those whose families
were inoculated lived very temperately and ration-
ally, for a time before they were inoculated. They
said the disorder was stripped of all its terrors by
174 LECTURES ON
this course, and they dreaded it no more than mea-
sles, and they would as willingly have their families
pass through it, as through measles. Yet they
never seemed to think for a moment that refraining
from salt, grease, fee., would give them a similar
immunity in measles and other disorders, or save
them entirely from many diseases. If by temporary
abstinence from rich food people can gain such
advantages, what may they gain by temperance
for years, joined with perfect cleanliness ? Bathing
the whole surface of the body, thus keeping up the
action of the skin, and enabling it to throw off waste
and hurtful particles, that would otherwise fester in
the system, and cause disease, though of such im-
mense importance, was not thought of by those who
adopted a course of temperance in order to pass
through the small pox with safety.
I have known several individuals who had small
pox after living on the Graham system for a few
years, and they did not suffer nearly as much as in
ordinary cases of measles. Some were not confined
to the house on any day of their illness.
It is singular that people will not reason, and
and conclude rationally, with such facts before them.
Because stimulating food excites, and gives present
power, they conclude that it gives strength. They
cannot see the analogy between stimulating food
and stimulating drink. They think that animal
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 175
food gives more strength than vegetable food because
it excites more, and quickens the circulation, thus
hurrying on the vital current, and wearing out, by
this undue excitement and stimulation, as surely as
ardent spirits, though not so rapidly. " O ! " say
the defenders of this course of living, " our grand-
fathers lived in this manner, and they enjoyed good
health, and lived till they were sixty or seventy
years of age." Very true, they might have enjoyed
a good degree of health, though their grand-children
may not know at this day exactly how many " aches
and pains " they had. But the question is, not how
long did they live, or how much health did they
enjoy ; but how long might they have lived, and
how much health might they have enjoyed, had
their habits been exactly right ; and how much vigor
might we have inherited from them that we do not
now possess. Besides, their habits were really much
better than the habits of their children's children.
They were active ; they did not turn night into
day ; nor did they take tobacco from infancy, as it
were, as many do now. A child of seven years
may now be found telling how sick it made him
when he first began to smoke. So did not our
grandfathers.
But the question is not, what may we eat and
live ? but what is best for us, physically, mentally,
and morally ? The physical argument is powerful
176 LECTURES ON
to my mind. A vegetable aliment, I am satisfied
from experience, from observation, from the testi-
mony of the great and good in different ages, is far
better suited to sustain man in health, and enable
him to be fully what he was intended, than animal
food or a mixed diet.
"Those Brahmins who abstain most scrupulously
from the flesh of animals attain to the greatest lon-
gevity." Dr. Lambe says, " Life is prolonged, in
incurable diseases, about one tenth, by vegetable
diet." He farther says, " It affords no trifling
ground of suspicion against animal food that it so
obviously inclines us to corpulency. Corpulency
itself is a species of disease, and a still surer harbin-
ger of other diseases. It is so even in animals.
When a sheep has become fat, the butcher knows
it must be killed, or it will rot and decline. It is
rare indeed for the corpulent to be long lived. They
are at the same time sleepy, lethargic, and short-
breathed. Even Hippocrates, (that father of medi-
cine,) says those who are uncommonly fat, die more
quickly than the lean."
Dr. Lambe farther says : " I have observed no
ill consequences from the relinquishment of animal
food. The apprehended danger of the change,
with which men scare themselves and their neigh-
bors, is a mere phantom of the imagination. The
danger, in truth, lies wholly on the other side." Be
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 177
it remembered, Dr. L. had lived thirty-one years
on vegetable diet, when he wrote this.
The Bible Christians of Philadelphia have lived
many years, some of them between thirty and
forty years, upon a vegetable diet. They have
reared families of children, who have now families
in their turn, and neither children or grandchildren
have ever tasted flesh, fish or fowl. With the ex-
ception of abstinence from animal food and intoxi-
cating drinks, their habits are no better than those
around them ; yet they have an ordinary share of
health, and I never heard of a case of scrofula
amongst them ; yet many believe that scrofula is a
result of a vegetable diet.
" Socrates, Plato, Zeno, Epicurus, and others of
the masters of ancient wisdom, adhered to the
Pythagorean diet, (vegetable diet,) and are known
to have arrived at old age with uninterrupted
health."
It has been truly said, by one far wiser than I
am, that " that animal food is unfavorable to the
intellectual powers." I know many people have
much intellectual power, who use animal food.
This does not prove that they would not have more,
if they used only vegetable aliment. All the senses
are improved by vegetable diet.
But most especially should the consumptive ab-
stain from animal food. The heat, the increase of
178 LECTURES ON
vascular action, induced by animal food, makes it
very improper that such persons should take it.
Milk and vegetables are most proper for the con-
sumptive, even if they were proper for no one else.
But to consider animal food in its influence on
the mind. The mind sympathizes with the body.
Whatever clogs and impedes proper action in the
system ; whatever raises an undue excitement, and
sends a vitiated fluid careering through our veins,
or brings on congestion in the brain, or elsewhere,
injures the operations of the mind. It cannot be
otherwise. The sympathy between body and mind
is very great, and must be, so long as they are
united. We cannot abuse or neglect the one, with-
out neglecting or abusing the other.
But the moral part of our argument lies still nearer
my heart. And here I would remark, that it is not
against a small quantity of lean, healthy flesh, taken
once a day, that 1 bring my argument. It is against
a flesh diet, with all its stimulating accompaniments,
such as spices, pepper, heating condiments of every
kind, fat meats, oil, butter, Sic. This kind of diet
induces disease. It hurries on life with an unnatu-
ral speed. It produces a premature developement
of the passions ; and where they are already devel-
oped, urges continually to their gratification. Thus
are men and women unduly stimulated, and conse-
quently worn out, long before the time.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 179
In order to indulge in animal food, man must take
life, unless he does like the Abyssinian, cut out a
junk from the living animal, and eat it all quivering
with life. But we kill animals before we eat them.
Has not this practice a direct tendency to blunt the
finer feelings of our natures ? What lady would
kill a lamb, a calf, or a fowl, for the sake of its
flesh ? Few, I apprehend, would do this, unless in
a case of stern necessity, and then, surely, we should
be justified both in killing and eating animals.
Sir Everard Home, a distinguished philosopher
and medical man, has the following: "In the
history of man in the Bible, we are told that do-
minion, over the animal world was bestowed upon
him at his creation ; but the divine permission to
indulge in animal food was not given until after the
flood. While mankind remained in a state of inno-
cence, there is ground for belief that their only food
was the produce of the vegetable kingdom."
I cannot forbear quoting a sentence from Plautus,
a distinguished Roman writer, who flourished about
two thousand years ago: "That man is not by
nature destined to devour animal food, is evident
from the constitution of the human frame, which
bears no resemblance to wild beasts or birds of
prey. Man is not provided with claws, or talons,
with sharpness of fang, or tusk, so well adapted to
tear and lacerate."
180 LECTURES ON
Plutarch, the beauty of whose writings has charm-
ed and even enraptured so many thousands, says :
" It is best to accustom ourselves to eat no meat at
all ; for the earth affords plenty enough of things
not only fit for nourishment, but for enjoyment and
delight, some of which may be eaten without
much preparation, and others may be made pleas-
ant by adding divers other things to them.
" You ask me," continues Plutarch, " for what
reason Pythagoras abstained from eating the flesh
of brutes. For my part I am astonished to think,
on the contrary, what appetite first induced man to
taste of a dead carcass."
I am free to admit that man has a perfect right
to eat flesh, if he cannot get better food. Nor do
I half as much object to healthy flesh, as to the
manner in which it is cooked. But I want to be
sure the flesh is healthy. If I must eat a piece of
a dead animal, I want one that has not a pint of
corruption in its liver, scattered about in some half
dozen or dozen ulcers. I have myself seen an ani-
mal killed, that was supposed to be in health, and
its liver was studded with ulcers of various sizes,
filled with corruption. A lady whose husband was
in the habit of eating broiled liver, told me he often
bought those that were filled with ulcers. The flesh
of the animal had not these marks of disease, but it
was just as much diseased. And think ye all the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 181
cookery in the world could tame such an abomina-
ble mass, and make it healthful food ? It is dis-
eased, and however stuffed, spiced, peppered, or
buttered, it is still the same loathsome lump.
Professor Hitchcock gives numerous instances of
the effects of temperance in lengthening life. " Old
Parr," says Prof. H., " who died at the age of one
hundred and fifty-three years, was a farmer of ex-
tremely abstemious habits ; his diet being solely
milk, cheese, coarse bread, small beer, and whey.
How much longer than one hundred and fifty-three
years he might have lived, we are not able to tell.
His physicians testified, after his dissection, that he
died in consequence of a change from a parsimoni-
ous to a plentiful diet." Lord Kaimes says, " The
island of Otaheite is healthy ; the people tall and
well made ; and by temperance, vegetables and
fish being their chief nourishment, they live to a
good old age. In many places, Indian corn is the
chief nourishment." He says, also, that decayed
teeth are unknown amongst them.
Fresh fish is comparatively good food ; those
kinds that are not oily or poisonous, may be eaten
with safety. Still the objection against taking life
to support life, when we have such abundance of
good vegetables, comes in here. Fish are not fat-
tened and diseased by man, before they are eaten.
Hence they are much safer food.
182 LECTURES ON
People may think they can eat the flesh and
milk of diseased animals with impunity ; but they
labor under a great mistake. Sir R. Phillips says
that in 1599, the Venetian government, to stop a
fatal disease among the people, prohibited the sale
of meat, butter, or cheese, on pain of death.
Who has not heard of the milk sickness of our
own country, and the dreadful sufferings that result
from taking the flesh or milk of those animals affect-
ed with the poison that causes the milk sickness ?
The habit of taking much salt with our food is
very injurious. There is much prejudice through-
out community in favor of salt. People have been
taught to believe that they could not eat too much
salt. But salt is a source of mischief, when much
is taken, and we have abundant evidence that per-
sons can abstain from its use with perfect safety, if
not with benefit. Salt produces a feverish state,
often causes strangury, and, without a shadow of
doubt, aggravates cutaneous eruptions.
Those who are not prepared to admit that salt is
detrimental, would do well to look at scurvy, and
see if they cannot admit, whilst contemplating this
disease, that salt can be injurious. Salt produces
thirst. A tax is thus laid upon the absorbent sys-
tem, to carry off fluid that we should not need were
it not for the salt. People have too much thirst in
the common way of living. Fever is induced,
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 183
what is termed by physiologists the fever of diges-
tion, and we are obliged to take much fluid to
quench the flame. This is wearing out the vital
powers unnecessarily ; for if we live temperately,
and our food is sufficiently succulent, and free from
heating condiments, and an excess of salt, we seldom
need drink. Some go without drinking for months,
and yet enjoy good health, much better health
than those who light up a fever in the system three
times, and perhaps oftener. in the twenty-four hours.
Those who thus induce fever three times or more in
the day, are obliged to quench the flames they kin-
dle by some liquid, and often water is too insipid to
satisfy them ; they resort to tea and coflee, if to
nothing worse.
If people take much more food and drink than
they need, and of a kind, too, that never ought to be
taken, they must expect corpulency, plethora, hu-
mors, and perhaps apoplexy. I know a lady who
has long indulged in what are termed the good
things of this life. She has the means of indul-
gence in abundance. She knows nothing of her
own organization, except " that somehow she came,
and here she is." She has become exceedingly cor-
pulent, and not long since she gave birth to a child,
which lived but a little time ; and the poor mother,
whose system was corrupted by long abuse, had
broken breasts, and after lying between life and
184 LECTURES ON
death, throwing off corruption from her surcharged
system, she was enabled, by the powers of endu-
rance possessed by her system, just to live. But she
is still ignorant, still transgressing the laws of life,
and must wear out before many years.
LECTURE X.
FLUIDS.
I SHALL in the present lecture say much in favor
of cold water. I am very happy that I am under
no necessity to speak of alcohol, as a drink, in any
form. I rejoice that this baneful poison is banished
by common consent, from our catalogue of drinks.
But take care, ladies, that you do not eat alcohol.
A certain shopkeeper once told me that he " wet
down his wedding cake with brandy." I suppose
this was done to keep the cake sufficiently moist.
I shall not attempt to determine which was worse,
the cake or the brandy.
I rejoice that in an assembly of ladies, at this
day, there is no necessity to be eloquent in con-
demning alcohol, and persuading them to disuse it,
whether it be found in the shape of wine, gin, or
cordial. So much has been written upon this sub-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 185
ject, that " he who runs may read." Still I cannot
but feel a disposition to go out of my path a little
to follow these deleterious fluids to their hiding
place in solids, in the shape of " wedding cake,"
" mince pie," &c.
I know a lady does not drink brandy, when she
eats it in mince pie, or cake, and a drunkard does
not drink rum when he soaks a brick-loaf in it, and
eats it, congratulating himself on an unbroken tem-
perance pledge. But is there any difference in the
guilt of these two individuals ? 1 hope all present
are fully sensible of the injurious effects of ardent
spirits in all its fluid forms. But it comes in so
many shapes, that there is much danger of our being
deceived, and putting the enemy in our mouths.
It is not only to be found in cake, and pie, but in
numerous forms of medicine, which are recom-
mended by quacks, and others, for ourselves and
our children. There is the cordial, the tincture,
the elixir, and the hot-drops. These gain access,
where ardent spirits, undisguised, could never come.
1 have myself heard a good lady say, who was a
strong advocate for temperance, in its technical ap-
plication, " I take hot-drops when I am sick, and I
always give them to my children if they complain."
" Hot-drops " was this lady's " cure-all." If a
child was ill from repletion, which often happened,
for the children had almost every thing they ought
13
186 LECTURES ON
not to have, besides " hot-drops," they must take a
dose of this medicine. li one of them fell and was
hurt, a dose of hot-drops was given, and another
dose was rubbed on the bruise.
The effect of these stimulating substances on the
mucous membrane of the stomach, I have shown
you in a former lecture. The mere circumstance
that alcohol is called medicine will not save the
mucous membrane of the stomach from inflamma-
tion and ulceration. Alcohol is alcohol, whether it
be hid in cake, or pie, or disguised in elixirs, tinc-
tures, or hot-drops. Fire is fire, and will burn our
flesh equally, whether it be a kitchen fire, or the
consecrated flame of the poor deluded idolater.
Fluids, after passing into the stomach, are taken
up, and conveyed into the blood, by appropriate
vessels, called absorbents, and these fluids are just
as much taken up by the absorbents, if they are
taken mixed with solid food, as if they are drank.
The serum, or watery part of the blood, needs to be
supplied by fluids taken into the system. There is
a waste of fluid matter in the system, as well as
solid. Hence a supply of fluid is needed, as much
as a supply of solid matter. The questions to be
answered are, when should this fluid be taken, of
what kind should it be, and in what quantities
should it be taken ? It is conceded at all points,
now, where respectable people choose to look for
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 187
testimony, that this fluid should not be alcohol, in
any of its forms. Wine, cider, and malt liquors,
are all highly injurious. The excitement they create,
in illness, and in health, their apparent tonic effects,
in recovery from illness, are all artificial. They
should be disused entirely. If they had no other
ill effects, they increase vascular action, thus hurry-
ing the circulation of the blood, and wearing out
the vital powers, unnecessarily. I know it has
long been the practice of our most skilful physi-
cians, to give wine on recovery from illness. It
has been the practice of the great, and the good ;
and I have tried to think it was right, for this rea-
son. But the more I study, the more I observe,
and the more I think, the more I am satisfied of the
truth of a sentiment advanced in a recent medical
work of much merit. " Nothing can give strength
to the system, but plain, wholesome food." " Other
things may appear to give strength, but it is only
excitement. Medicine may correct faulty action
in the system, but food alone gives strength."
I have watched the action of wine upon my own
system, in recovery from illness, and I was at no
time satisfied that it was well for me, though ordered
by one of the most skilful physicians. I am accus-
tomed to follow a physician's directions, in every
thing, if I put myself under his care ; and though
satisfied the wine was not well for me, in other
188 LECTURES ON
words, that it was decidedly injurious, I took it, be-
cause I would obey my physician ; and I got well
in spite of the wine, and I suppose he thought I got
well by the aid of it. This physician was a tem-
perance man in the strictest sense of the word, as
it respects ardent spirits.
Strange that sick people should be condemned
to bear the excitement of ardent spirits, or wine,
(for at present they are nearly synonymous,) when
well people cannot bear it without injury ! But I
must hasten to take leave of a subject, which, at
this day, ought not to demand a passing notice.
But let all remember that they cannot take alcohol
in any form, with safety, or give it to their children.
No matter whether it be concealed in medicine,
cake, pie, or confectionary, it is every where a
deadly substance. " Alcohol does violence to the
absorbents, and passes into the circulation un-
changed." So testifies Magendie the great French
experimenter. But among the deleterious fluids I
must not omit to mention the deadly laudanum and
paregoric, and solution of morphine. Though opium
is a solid, these are fluids, and I am very willing to
have this opportunity to speak of them. I can
hardly think that those who take laudanum or mor-
phine, or give their children paregoric, have the
slightest conception of the mischiefs they are causing.
If they wish to commit murder, or suicide, why not
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 189
do it deliberately, and not " by inches 1 " But I
will not be severe. These persons know not what
they do. They have brought themselves into a
state of misery, by wrong habits, and they seek
relief from their misery. Thirteen years since I
took laudanum, and thought I could have no rest
from my misery without it. Had I continued the
practice much longer, I should have had repose
from bodily sufferings. The fact was, my habits
were wrong ; I had deranged my nervous system by
the excessive use of tea, and by almost continual
study, night and day, till my life was disease.
My excruciating pain was relieved for the time
being, by laudanum, but it was only for the time
being. I was perfectly sensible that it made me
worse ultimately.
I have wrecked my constitution by these means.
I owe what little of vitality I now possess to tem-
perance and regularity, and I can sympathize most
feelingly with those who are destroying health in
the manner I destroyed mine. Let those who
do not wish to commit suicide, avoid opium in all
its forms unless prescribed by a skilful physi-
cian.
I now come to speak of tea, coffee, &c. Here
I shall give you my opinion and my experience :
In the first place, tea and coffee are taken when
there is no natural thirst. A quantity of fluid is
190 LECTURES ON
necessary, to supply the waste of the fluid parts of
the system ; if we are in a healthy state, natural
thirst informs us when fluids should be taken. But
very few, who live in the usual manner, are in a
state of health. The abundant use of condiments,
and of flesh, and other stimulating articles of food,
induces a state of fever, and very many drink only
to quench the flame they have thus kindled. Others,
whose diet is more as it should be, drink from habit.
They are accustomed to drink so many cups of tea,
or coffee or cocoa, or so many glasses of water, and
they do not stop to consider whether they need
this quantity of fluid. Others drink with their
meals, and they drink because it is the custom.
Some think that " they may as well be out of the
world, as out of the fashion ;" and they want a cup
of tea and a tea-spoon, or a cup of water, to keep
themselves in countenance.
Now all this would do very well, if the stomach
were a bottle, or any thing but a stomach. As it
is, it imposes unnecessary labor upon the system in
every way.
Nursing mothers think they must drink large quan-
tities of some kind of fluid, to make milk for their
infants. By persevering in this course, they bring on
indigestion, and not only defeat the end at which they
aimed, but cause much suffering for themselves and
their little ones ; for we know that the health of
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 191
the child depends very much on the health of the
mother.
If we take food too stimulating, and thus create
fever, which produces thirst, we thus waste life ; and
all of us will find it short enough, at best. If we
take fluid from habit, and not because we need it,
we thus impose a heavy tax upon the absorbent
system, to take up and carry off this fluid. When
we drink with our meals, the absorbent vessels take
up and carry away the fluid before the process of
digestion begins. After putting this amount of un-
necessary labor upon the absorbents for a time, they
fail, just as any other organ would, that had to per-
form too much labor, and then indigestion is the re-
sult, and often diarrhoea a diarrhoea of indigestion,
in which the food passes off with hardly any alter-
ation : no alteration that approximates toward diges-
tion. It is true, vegetable food may turn acid, and
animal food may putrefy ; but neither of these
constitute any thing like digestion.
You will perceive that I am now speaking of the
effect of innocent fluids, when taken in too large
quantities. But all these mischiefs are aggravated,
and others produced, by the use of improper fluids.
We have abundant evidence to prove that tea is a
narcotic, and therefore poisonous. Dr. Hooper
says, in his Medical Dictionary, " In its natural
state tea is a narcotic plant, on which account the
192 LECTURES OPT
Chinese refrain from its use till it has been divested
of this property by keeping it at least twelve
months." Now I am very sure, from this passage,
that Dr. H. was a tea-drinker ; for though he says
tea is a narcotic plant, he says also, the Chinese
keep it till it is divested of this property. I am
very sure, also, that the Chinese would have to
steep it, as well as keep it, before it would be
divested of this property. What evidence Dr.
Hooper could have that it was divested of this
property, I cannot see, when directly after, he says,
" When taken too copiously, it is apt to occasion
weakness, tremor, palsies, and various other symp-
toms arising from narcotic plants." Dr. H. speaks
of taking tea too copiously. Every one who takes
tea will judge for himself or herself when they take
it " too copiously."
The good lady who has taken tea till every
nerve trembles, and till she cannot hold her cup and
saucer steadily, will not of course think she takes it
too copiously, if she takes two, three, or even five
cups, just to steady her nerves. The good lady
who drinks tea to cure the headache, forgetting that
those who do not drink tea are not so apt to have
the headache to cure, will not think she takes tea
too copiously, so long as she does not take enough
to cure her head.
But to be serious, let us see what Dr. Cullen
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 193
says of tea. He says that scientific experiments
prove that an infusion of green tea (as we have it
in America) has the effect of destroying the sensi-
bility of the nerves and the irritability of the mus-
cles." He adds, from these considerations, we con-
clude, firmly, that tea is a narcotic and sedative sub-
stance. Dr. Cullen farther says, " It is very pos-
sible it may, like other narcotics, in a moderate
dose, prove exhilarating;" and he thinks, also, it may
operate medicinally, like some other narcotics. But
what do well folks want of narcotic medicines ?
and if they are sick, they ought not to take medicine
at hap-hazard, every day. They ought to have
advice, and take what is best for them.
But what is a narcotic ? some may ask. Dr.
Cullen says, " As their power and operation may
be extended so far as to extinguish the vital principle
altogether, they form that set of substances which
properly and strictly may be called poisonous."
I^know many people do not think tea is poison,
though they acknowledge if drunk strong it is hurt-
ful. But is a pound of arsenic poisonous, and is not
a grain poisnnnns ? Some say tea cannot be poi-
sonous, for some of their relatives used it, and lived
to be old. " My grandfather," said a young man
in my hearing, " is eighty years of age, and he
always used tobacco from his youth." Because
this good old man had lived to a good old age, in
194 LECTURES ON
spite of tobacco, it was proof positive to the young
man, that tobacco was not poisonous. So it is with
tea, and even with ardent spirits because they do
not kill outright, or make people " down sick," they
try to persuade themselves that they are not injuri-
ous. If they are sick once in a while, they con-
clude that they must be sick occasionally that
sickness comes or is sent or perhaps, like a gen-
tleman I once met, they charge it upon their ances-
tors. " I am," said he, " convinced of the truth of
your temperance principles ; but I enjoy perfect
health, and do not feel the necessity of making any
change." A gentleman present inquired if he never
had the headache. " O yes," said he, " but then
that is hereditary ; my grandmother had the head-
ache, father had the headache, and I expect to
have it." He thought it a matter of course, that he
must have the headache, because his grandmother
and father had it. He lived in the usual manner,
and took tobacco freely.
I know people say they cannot give up tea, and
I know habit is very powerful. I know all this by
experience. Ladies say, and good ladies too, and
they believe what they say, that tea cures the head-
ache. Now I have no question that tea alleviates
their headache ; but I also believe it had much
agency in causing it first. Ardent spirits derange
the nervous system, and produce sickness, violent
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 195
tremors, &c. ; but ardent spirits will relieve, for the
time being, these symptoms. It will stimulate the
deranged and jaded nervous system for a short time,
as the whip will stimulate a jaded, worn-out horse
to momentary exertion. So it is with tea. Tea
has deranged and disordered the nervous system ;
it has produced headache and other troubles ; yet
by its momentary stimulus, it makes the sufferer
feel better, rouses and exhilarates long enough to
deceive. Why should a person whose habits are
correct, have the headache, any more than the hand
ache or the foot ache ? I confess I cannot see. I
look upon all disease as an effect following a cause.
I do not consider that it comes, or is sent, without
a cause, any more than I consider that a watch or
any thing else could make itself, without a maker
" could just happen so." I see no reason why one
thing should "just happen so," any more than an-
other. I know people are born diseased, and with
sus^ptibility to disease ; but in most cases, were
theji properly brought up, and did they live right,
after they are " brought up," we should hear less
of hereditary disease.
The following remarks from Prof. Hitchcock are
so exactly to the point that I introduce them here :
"If. the intemperate man abandon his cups for a
time, he is bqset with that terrific set of feelings
called the ' horrors ;' but at length they pass away,
196 LECTURES ON
and nature moves on regularly and calmly, and
peace and health and happiness return. Just so, if
the tea-drinker gives up his beverage, he will find
for a time that dulness, debility and headache are
the consequences. Many, in such circumstances,
conclude that this is certain evidence that tea is
necessary for them, or very salutary, and they
therefore return to its use. But were they to per-
severe in their abstinence for a few weeks, or a few
months, their morbid feelings would disappear, and
probably their headache would be permanently
cured." He also says that whilst he drank tea he
found dull, nervous headache no uncommon com-
panion ; but upon leaving it he was afflicted with
almost constant headache and heaviness. He per-
severed, however; his headache gradually disap-
peared, and after a few months, " headache," he
says, " was one of his rarest trials."
If the opinions of eminent physicians are worth
any thing, then they ought to be brought tq|the
remembrance of those who take tea and coffee.
Some may ask which does greatest injury, tea or
coffee. I for one must answer, I cannot tell. A
great man has said, " that is worst of which we
drink the most ;" and I believe it.
Dr. Londe says of coffee " Coffee accelerates
the functions only by shortening their duration. It
doubles the energy of the organs only by doubling
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 197
the debility which follows when the excitement is
over. Coffee produces, in irritable individuals, a
remarkable agitation, an inclination for some kind
of motion which they cannot resist, often a trem-
bling of the muscles, spasmodic cramps, anxiety
and palpitations. Nothing is more calculated to
increase the emaciation, the paleness, and to hasten
the exhaustion of the organs, in persons of an irrita-
ble habit, than this beverage, which is altogether
stimulating and not in the least nutritive."
Dr. Beddoes' experiments go to establish, beyond
the reach of controversy, the deleterious qualities
of tea. " It was first ascertained, by a number of
trials, with a variety of preparations from vegetables,
that laurel water, infusion of opium, of digitalis and
green tea, bear equal proportion, with regard to
their destructive effects upon the hearts of toads and
frogs, all rendering them instantaneously incapable
of pulsation. In all the experiments tea proved as
quickly poisonous as laurel water, opium, or digita-
lis, and in some more so."
Some suppose that the habitual use of strong tea
creates a distaste for ardent spirits. I have tried to
reclaim a drunkard by giving him strong tea, till I
was tired of trying, and now believe I might as
well have reformed him by giving him wine or
cider. I have yet to learn that the use of a mild
stimulant produces a distaste for a stronger.
198 LECTURES ON
I believe that a large proportion of the nervous-
ness, hypochondria and hysteria that hang over the
finest minds among us like a thick black cloud,
shrouding their brightest prospects in gloom, is to be
traced directly to the use of tea and coffee. I have
myself suffered much from nervousness, in my coffee
and tea drinking days, and I know a worthy gen-
tleman whose nervous system became so deranged
by the excessive use of coffee, that he hardly saw a
lucid interval. He was completely miserable him-
self, and made his friends very miserable. His
hobby seemed to be that he must come to want.
His wife often feared he would take his own life.
He was so enslaved to coffee, that if he dispensed
with it one morning, he would have a terrible head-
ache, and would even be incapable of business till
he had a bowl of strong coffee made. While the
stimulus of the coffee lasted he could attend to his
business. He was induced, by the entreaties of
friends, to abandon the use of coffee for a time.
After much suffering from the absence of his long
used stimulus, his nerves became settled, his fits of
hypo left him, and he became a cheerful, happy
man, and rejoiced in his emancipation. In a letter
which I received from a Congregational minister with
whom 1 correspond, I find some facts with regard
to coffee, worthy your attention. This gentleman
is as eminent for his piety, as his scholarship, and
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 199
cannot therefore be suspected of slandering this bev-
erage. His chum, while in college, was much ad-
dicted to coffee, and was tormented with a dreadful
headache, much of the time during his college course.
But he used to say he knew it was not coffee that
made his head ache. After he left college, his
health became so much impaired that he was obliged
to seek medical advice. He was induced to lay
aside coffee. The consequence was, his head got
well. Another gentleman who was a near relative
of the writer, was a slave to coffee, and fancied that
his wife was his enemy, though she was one of the
best women in the world. He could not believe
that she loved him, or that any thing was right with
him. He thought that not only his wife, but his
children and neighbors, were conspiring to work his
ruin. He was persuaded to leave the use of coffee ;
in a few weeks, his system became regulated, and
he wondered, wondered ! he could indulge in such
groundless suspicions, that made himself, and all
around him, miserable. When he was relating the
circumstances to the writer, a few months afterward,
he said, " He had not a single doubt coffee was the
principal agent in the matter. But," said he, " I
would not believe it, or hear to a word of advice on
the subject, till I was driven to the last extremity,
and felt obliged to do any thing, and every thing,
that was possible for relief; for," continued he, " I
200 LECTURES ON
was tempted strongly to run, away and leave my
family, and I was afraid I should take my own life
in some frantic moment." He was a professor of
religion, a respectable and influential citizen, and
worth several thousand dollars, and between forty
and fifty years of age." Let not tea drinkers think
their favorite beverage innocent of producing such
results, for I have known a lady, who was a slave
to tea, and seldom took coffee, who had such fits
of depression, that she would weep hours without
knowing the cause. She often thought all her
friends had forsaken her, and at one time she even
attempted to take her own life. She acknowledged
that she was often tempted to destroy herself. She
left tea, and became calm, cheerful, and happy.
I have promised to give you my own experience
with respect to tea and coffee. From a child, I
drank tea. My parents were great tea drinkers.
I became so attached to tea, that I was not willing
to make a meal without it, and I must have it very
strong. At length I was not satisfied with it at my
meals. I chewed it, and often put a handful in a
cup, poured boiling water on it, let it cool, and then
drank the infusion, and ate the tea. I became a most
wretched being. I had never had firm health, from
a child, owing to improper management in rearing
me. Severe nervous prostration, accompanied by
mental depression, were often my portion. Other
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 201
bad habits joined with the tea in producing my
misery, no doubt. But a great part of my distress
left me when I left tea, although I still retained
many bad habits. But I was not wholly relieved,
till I adopted the temperance system in all its parts.
After I left tea, I became gradually a slave to coffee.
I had, therefore, a good opportunity to judge of the
effects of each. I am satisfied coffee much increases
arterial action, produces palpitation, weakness and
trembling. I used coffee when my other habits
were better, much better than they were when I
took tea. I can judge better, perhaps, of the effects
of coffee, than of tea, though I am convinced tea is
equally hurtful. My weakness, and trembling, and
sickness became so great during the forenoon, (for
I only took coffee habitually in the morning,) that
I was not able properly to attend to my duties as a
teacher. In the afternoon my abused system would
rally its powers, and I would be bettef. I resolved
to abandon coffee. I did so, and immediately my
system became renovated. I was enabled to per-
form my duties with ease and cheerfulness, free
from nervous prostration, or mental depression, free
from palpitation, weakness and trembling. I now
take plain food, with no seasoning except a very
little salt. If 1 wholly disused salt, I believe it
would be better. I take no fluid with my meals,
except a small cup of milk, perhaps twice in the
14
202 LECTURES ON
day. I eat no flesh, no oils, or grease of any kind ;
and unless I use much exercise, I am seldom
thirsty. I have sometimes passed weeks without
taking any drink, or any fluid, only the small quan-
tity of milk I eat morning and night. When I do
need drink, water is the most grateful of all fluids.
There is a delicious taste in pure water that tea
and coffee drinkers know nothing about. But pure
water is seldom found. Much impurity exists in
our water. This impurity is the cause of many
evils. The gravel is no doubt often caused, and
always aggravated, by drinking impure water, espe-
cially such as contains calcareous matter. Rain
water, where it is caught in a proper manner, is
probably better than any that many people can get.
Filtered or distilled water would be better still,
perhaps. But if so much mischief results from
drinking impure water, should we not avoid, as far
as we are able*, the necessity of drinking it ? Should
we not eat succulent food, good milk and fruits,
rather than light up a fever in our veins by the use
of flesh, oils, condiments, &tc., which we must
quench with impure water, or something worse ?
Great care should be taken with respect to milk.
Still slops, dirty swill, &tc., are not the natural food
of a cow ; and such horrid slops, drained through
the vessels of an unhealthy animal, (for a cow fed
in this manner will quickly become unhealthy,)
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 203
must be very improper food, to say the least of it.
Good milk is good diet for many, though it does
not agree with some, especially those who have a
tendency to fat, or are troubled with humors. Let
our habits be such that we have none but natural
thirst, and pure water will be grateful and health-
ful.
Extract of a Letter from Dr. John Burdell, dated
NEW YORK, JAN. 27, 1842.
MRS. GOVE : In accordance with your request,
I send you the following on the subject of Tea and
Coffee, which is the result of my own experiments
on various animals.
It is a law of the animal economy, that stimu-
lants and excitants invariably result in a corres-
ponding depression ; and if the depression goes
beyond a certain point, death is the consequence.
During my dental practice I have had an oppor-
tunity of observing the condition of those of my
patrons who were in the habit of drinking strong
tea, and I have found that such persons have weak,
irritable and sensitive nerves ; also their offspring.
This led me to make some experiments, the results
of which I now present to the public.
I took a pound of young hyson tea and steeped
it in soft water, and boiled it down to half a pint.
204 LECTURES ON
I then procured a rabbit of about three months old,
and kept it without food a sufficient length of time
to leave the stomach empty. I then gave it ten
drops of the decoction, holding its head in a position
to cause the fluid to enter the stomach. The ani-
mal appeared to be somewhat exhilarated for the
space of three or four minutes, then laid down on
its side and began moaning, as if in great distress ;
and in about ten minutes from the time of my
administering the dose, its struggles ended in death,
the limbs being distended and very stiff.
I also tried the effects of tea on a cat of the same
age, after making another decoction from black tea,
which the person who sold it said was of the best
quality, arid was highly recommended by a cele-
brated physician to a lady in delicate health. The
decoction was stronger, as I boiled it down to less
than a gill. The results were the same, only more
rapid, as the animal ceased to breathe in less than
three minutes, although the dose was not as large
as I gave the rabbit, being but eight drops.
I have used the decoction of tea for destroying
the nerves of teeth, as a substitute for mineral
poisons. Arsenic is used by many dentists for the
purpose.
Again I took a pound of coffee in its natural
state, and boiled it in the same manner as I did the
tea, and administered it in the same way, but had
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 205
much difficulty in keeping it in the stomach long
enough to produce much effect, before it was thrown
off by vomiting. But when it could be kept down
for any length of time, it destroyed life, but took
longer to do it than tea.
My last experiment was in trying the effects of
tea and coffee on frogs. The former would make
them jump three or four feet at first ; but the leaps
grew shorter and shorter, until they were incapable
of drawing up the hind legs for another jump, and
soon expired.
Yours, &c.
JOHN BURDELL.
LECTURE XI.
NERVOUS SYSTEM.
IN treating on the various parts of the human
economy, I pretend to no originality. I bring the
opinions of the best recent physiologists before my
sisters. There is some difference of opinion between
late writers on physiology, respecting the nervous
system. This difference in no wise affects the
pathological remarks, or hygienic deductions of
these lectures.
In these lectures I shall give you the different
206 LECTURES ON
opinions of physiologists. First, I shall bring before
you the opinions contained in my oral lectures.
Under the name nervous system, anatomists
include those organs which are composed of a ner-
vous or pulpy tissue. The nervous system, in
man, is composed of two parts. That which is
called the cerebro-spinal axis, which is the brain
and spinal marrow, and thirty-nine or forty-two
pairs of cords, called nerves, which pass off later-
ally from the cerebro-spinal axis, and ramify over
every part of the body. Secondly, the ganglions
and plexuses, with their various cords, branches
and filaments.
Under the term encephalon, are included the
contents of the cranium, which are the cerebrum,
or brain proper, the cerebellum, or little brain, and
the medulla oblongata. These different parts are
included under the name brain. The brain proper,
or cerebrum, occupies the upper part of the head ;
the cerebellum is next below it, posteriorly ; and
the medulla oblongata is lower still.
I would here remark, that I cannot go into a
description of the brain phrenologically, but I am
fully impressed with the value of phrenology as a
science, and would earnestly recommend to my
readers, especially those who are skeptical as to its
truth, the admirable works of George Combe, and
the Messrs. Fowler.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 207
Combe's " Constitution of Man " is a work that
is above praise. His other works are exceedingly
valuable. The writings of O. S Fowler contain
physiological and phrenological truth, well adapted
to the wants of our age, and eminently calculated
to bless humanity. L. N. Fowler is said, by good
judges, to be the best practical phrenologist in
America,
French anatomists recken forty-two pairs of
nerves. Of these, twelve pairs draw their origin
from, or are connected with the encephalon, and
thirty come from the spinal marrow.
Each of the spinal nerves consists of filaments
destined for two distinct uses, motion and sensi-
bility. They have two roots, one arising from the
posterior, the other from the anterior part of the
spinal marrow. Sir Charles Bell says, that the
anterior part gives rise to nerves of motion, the
posterior, to nerves of sensibility.
The series of ganglions and plexuses, with the
nervous cords, fibres and filaments which unite
them, are collectively termed the great sympathetic
nerve. It is connected with each of the spinal
nerves, and with several of the encephalic, but
does not arise from either. The sympathetic is
considered the great system of involuntary nerves.
The nerves of the brain and spinal marrow, with
their various ramifications, are called the nerves of
208 LECTURES ON
animal life. These are distributed principally to
the muscles of voluntary motion, and to the sensi-
tive surface of the body, or external skin.
The sympathetic or ganglionic nerves are called
nerves of organic life. The ganglions of the sym-
pathetic nerve give off branches, which some of
them connect the ganglions with each other, and
some interweave and inosculate and form plexuses.
From these, numerous branches are given off to
supply the different organs with nerves.
Besides the more deeply seated ganglions, con-
nected with the principal viscera, there are two
series of them, which range along the anterior side
of the spine, connected by nervous cords, which
extend from the lower extremity of the spine to the
base of the cranium, and enter by small branches
through the carotid canal, along with the artery,
and form connections with the fifth and sixth pairs
of the nerves of the brain.
These two series of what are termed peripheral
ganglions, with their connecting cords, are called
sympathetic nerves, because they are believed to
form the most intimate union of sympathy between
all the viscera concerned in organic life.
At the base of the diaphragm, on the anterior
side of the spine^ are two large ganglions, called
semilunar ganglions. These give off numerous
large branches, which, together with several from
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 209
other parts, and some from within the cranium, form
a very large central plexus in front of the spine,
which constitutes a kind of common centre of action
and sympathy to the whole system of organic nerves.
This is called the solar plexus. From this branches
are given off in every direction, uniting with nerves
from the brain, and supplying the different organs,
particularly the stomach and arteries. These are
invested with a lace-work of nerves, which accom-
panies them to their termination in the glands, skin,
and mucous membrane, and other membranes.
The cerebro-spinal nerves are instruments of sen-
sation and perception. The sympathetic or gan-
glionic nerves are instruments of sympathy ; and in
a healthy state are not instruments of sensation ; but
in a diseased state they have great morbid sensi-
bility ; and a morbid sympathy may also be induced.
You know that the nerves of the bones, in a state
of health, convey no appreciable sensation to the
brain. But bones may become diseased ; and no
pain is more acute than the pain of diseased bones.
The many abuses of the nervous system disorder
the organic nerves, and render them acutely sen-
sible. The nerves of sensibility partake of the
injury. Thus there is disease from abuse, and
disease from sympathy.
A great physiologist, from whose works these
views of the nervous system are taken, has said,
210 LECTURES ON
" The proper performance of the functions of life,
and the welfare of each and every part of the sys-
tem, depend upon the integrity of the nerves, in
supplying the necessary vital energy ; and this again
depends on their healthy state. By inducing a
diseased condition, and inflammation of any part, a
new and abnormal centre of action may be estab-
lished, equal in the power and extent of its influ-
ence, to the importance of the part, and the de-
gree of its morbid irritation, which will not only
derange the functions of the part itself, but also, to
a greater or less extent, those of the other parts,
and sometimes of the whole system, causing an
undue determination of the fluids to itself, and re-
sulting in morbid secretion, imperfect assimilation,
chronic inflammation, disorganization, by change
of structure, by softening, or indurating, producing
scirrhus, ossification, calculi, ulcers, cancers, and
dissolution ; or mounting into a high state of acute
inflammation, and in a more violent and rapid ca-
reer, bringing on gangrene, or general convulsions,
collapse and death."
Since these lectures were written, some new
views of the nervous system have been given to
the world by Miiler, a German anatomist. These
views will be found in the annexed extract from a
letter which I received a short time since, from
that profound scholar and able writer, D. Francis
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 211
Condie, M. D. of Philadelphia. The letter was
hastily written, with no view to publication, but
Dr. Condie has kindly given me leave to make
extracts from his letters, remarking, " that from the
rapid manner in which these communications are
written, in moments of uncertain leisure, their style
is necessarily somewhat loose and careless, and cer-
tainly very different from that in which I should
clothe my thoughts, did I contemplate they were
to be given to the public." I shall avail myself
of the privilege thus kindly given, and shall mark
the extracts with the letter C.
After carefully studying these views of the ner-
vous system, you will be better able to understand
how we are affected by hurtful influences.
" In the first place, it will be proper to lay down a
definition of tone which is that state of the nervous
system, when it responds with sufficient prompti-
tude, vigor and regularity, to the healthful and natu-
ral stimuli. Want of tone is of two kind ; first,
when, from deficient excitability, the nerves do not
respond with sufficient promptitude, vigor and reg-
ularity, to the natural excitants, and the functions
of the system in all, or in part, fall into a state of
torpor. The second species of deficient tone is,
when the nerves, from excess of excitability, re-
spond too promptly, and often irregularly, to the
ordinary stimuli, and often act with violence, from
212 LECTURES ON
the impression of causes, which, in their normal
condition, affect them but little, if at all. It is this
latter species of deficient tone with which we have
principally to do. It is produced by over-excite-
ment, moral as well as physical by over-exertion
of the organs, without sufficient intervals of rest
by whatever reduces the physical energies of the
system, deficient exercise, deficient food, mental
and moral indolence, as well as by excessive men-
tal labor, excessive evacuations, and by whatever
impairs or vitiates the nutritive functions of the sys-
tem, as excessive, improper, or deficient food, im-
proper drinks, vitiated and confined air, deficiency
of sleep, the depressive passions, &;c.
" In regard to the extension or diffusion of morbid
action, this takes place through the nervous cen-
tres. Irritation of the stomach, by being reflected
upon the heart and lungs, hurries the respiration
and circulation. Irritation of the uterus, by being
reflected upon the stomach, causes sickness, gas-
trodynia, &tc. ; or upon the spinal nerves of motion,
hysteria; and neuralgia, when upon the nerves of sen-
sation. A piece of indigestible food in the stomach
of a child, gives rise, by reflection upon the nerves
of motion of animal life, to convulsions. A portion
of a briar in the end of the finger, by a similar re-
flection, causes tetanus, &c. &c." c.
The world has so long looked upon passions
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 213
misdirected, or excessive in action, that many seem
to have come to the conclusion that certain passions
or propensities are inherently bad, and that they
should consequently be eradicated. Now if we
look into this subject, we shall find that it is only
the excessive or erratic action of the passions,
that is productive of evil. The passions are them-
selves good; and could the human being be so de-
veloped that there would be a harmonic action of
the passions, we should then see the perfection
of humanity. For instance, caution is a faculty or
passion that is productive of great good, but its ex-
cess makes fear, or cowardice, which may produce
great evils ; and its deficiency makes men reckless ;
which is often a very great evil. The same is true
of hope, reverence, or even conscientiousness. But
you may say, surely we cannot have too much
conscientiousness. You must remember that the
moral sense is blind, and unless enlightened by the
infusion of truth into the mind, is as likely to lead
us wrong as right. The devotee is conscientious
in casting himself beneath the wheels of Jugger-
naut. The Hindoo widow is conscientious in im-
molating herself upon the burning pile with the
corpse of her husband. Christians are conscien-
tious in adhering to various rites and ceremonies,
that divide and scatter in Israel, and produce any
thing but the fulfilling of the law, which is love.
214 LECTURES ON
"Every physiological propensity, appetite or
passion, is implanted in the human organism by its
Almighty Author, for a wise purpose, and hence
the indulgence to a proper physiological extent is
proper and commendable nay, necessary for the
well being of the individual, and for the preserva-
tion of the species." c.
It should be remembered that whatever deterio-
rates, tends to destroy.
" The great hygienic law in relation to all these
passions is, carefully to guard against every thing
which has a tendency to cause any of them to be-
come so excessive, as to control the action of the
organism, or to remove them from the control of
the judgment and the will, and to render them
masters, destroying by their tyranny our individual
happiness, and depriving us of our power to do
good, instead of being servants, ministering to our
good, and that of our fellow beings." c.
The natural degree of activity should be given
to all our passions or propensities. Excessive or
deficient action produces evil. He who loves his
children too much, will be unjust to them, as well
as he who loves them too little. Go over the cat-
alogue of passions or faculties, benevolence, con-
scientiousness, reverence, love of approbation, self-
esteem, philoprogenitiveness, amativeness, &c. &c.,
in excess or deficiency, all produce evil. God has
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 215
not implanted evil passions within us, but we have
destroyed the healthy balance that should exist in
us ; we have " sought out many inventions," and
wrought out for our race that physiological, phre-
nological, and consequently moral disorder, charac-
terized by many, by the term total depravity.
" We are to recollect, that while the excess of
any of our natural propensities, appetites or pas-
sions is to be guarded against, so nothing should be
allowed under the normal circumstances for which
we are created, which is calculated to obliterate,
or render dormant, either of these propensities, ap-
petites or passions. Their natural degree of activity
should be aimed at, which, governed by reason and
the higher order of sentiments, secures our health,
our happiness, and our usefulness all of which are
more or less diminished, or even entirely destroyed,
equally when either of our appetites or passions is
in excess, or deficient in energy.
" These remarks are especially true of that appe-
tite, instinct or passion which impels us to the prop-
agation of our species. When kept within bounds,
and exercised according to the dictates ;of nature,
of reason and of virtue, it has not only a beneficial
influence upon the Health and longevity of the sys-
tem, it not merely promotes our individual happiness,
and fulfils an important law of our being, ' increase
and multiply,' but it has a tendency to soften and
216 LECTURES ON
improve the heart, and by the new relations thus
resulting, to promote feelings of kindness and be-
nevolence, and to interest us more deeply in the
happiness and well being of our fello\v creatures.
But the instinct of which we are speaking, is one
which requires to be watched with the greatest
care. Its tendency in the present artificial state of
society is to premature and excessive develop-
ment, and to unnatural, excessive and destructive
indulgence ; and to this cause are to be attributed
very many, if not all of the sexual diseases, which,
instead of being confined, as formerly, to those
classes which revel in luxury, commence now to
inflict their pains and penalties upon the sex at
large." c.
It is time that parents should know the evils that
flow from a premature or excessive development
of animal instincts and passions. No false delicacy
should hinder parents and guardians, and all who
have the care of children, from getting information
on these subjects. I propose first to bring a few
of these evils before you, and then to show how
they are caused, and how they may be prevented.
In doing this, I shall endeavor, by divine assistance,
to use all necessary plainness of speech. I see
myself standing on the verge of eternity. What I
have learned I would leave to the world ; and I am
confident that it will be well received by the virtu-
ous and intelligent.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 217
The belief that the premature and excessive de-
velopment of the sexual instinct constitutes disease,
and becomes, by its immoderate gratification, the
cause of numerous diseases, has been too much
confined to physicians. Well meaning Christian
ministers have not been slow to declaim against
the sinner and the sin, whilst they have been
wholly ignorant of the physical means of prevent-
ing the evil. And let it be remembered that with-
out proper physical training, all moral means are
utterly inefficient to stay this evil. As well may
we drop a living coal of fire into a magazine of
powder, and beg, and pray, and exhort it not to
explode, and expect to be obeyed, as to train our
children in a manner directly calculated to produce
impurity, and expect them, by the mere force of
precept, to counteract the immutable laws of nature
and remain pure. Causes must produce effects.
If the rays of light pass from a rarer to a denser
medium, they will be refracted.
The diseases which may be traced to the exces-
sive development and inordinate indulgence of the
sexual instinct, are exceedingly numerous. I shall
give a list of these diseases, premising that they
may all be caused by social or solitary licentious-
ness, yet that they may be produced by other causes.
Diseases of the uterus, fluor albus, floodings, pro-r
lapsus uteri, cancer of the uterus, &tc. &c. Medi-
15
218 LECTURES ON
cal writers tell us that abandoned women very of-
ten suffer from cancer of the uterus. The fact that
the ceremony of marriage has been performed, will
not save people from the consequences of venereal
excesses. The laws of our nature remain the same ;
and if violated, we must suffer the consequences.
Numerous other diseases are produced by the
excess which we are contemplating. Besides abor-
tions and monstrosities, there are those general dis-
eases which are caused by over excitement of the
nervous system, hysteria, dyspepsia, undue nervous
excitability, epilepsy, and various kinds of fits, pain-
ful menstruation, diseases of the eye, apathy of the
sexual appetite, or its undue violence, pulmonary
complaints, bleeding at the lungs, diseases of the
heart, St. Vitus' dance, exhaustion of the system,
idiocy and insanity. Hundreds and thousands are
hurried into a premature grave, or made wretched
whilst they live, by these diseases, with no knowl-
edge of their causes.
Many lovely young women enter the married
state, frail as the gossamer, from wrong physical
training, unable to bear the slightest hardship, when
it is their right, by God's intendment, to be hardy
and robust. They fall victims immediately, and
often the grave covers them and their first born,
and " Mysterious Providence " heads their obitu-
ary. Parent of Wisdom ! shall such ignorance for-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.
ever shroud our world ? The functions of gesta-
tion and parturition are as natural as digestion ; and
were mankind brought into a natural and healthy
state, we have reason to believe that these func-
tions would be attended with little, if any pain.
But the healthy tone of the nervous system is de-
stroyed. Diseased, convulsed, and erratic action is
established by the various abuses of civic life, and
the most tender and endearing of all relations be-
comes a terror and a curse.
I know many mothers who, with their husbands,
have adopted the " Graham System," or in other
words, those correct habits recommended in these
lectures ; and these mothers have abridged their
sufferings in parturition from forty hours to one hour,
and have escaped altogether the deathly sickness
of the three first months of gestation. But they
avoided all excesses as far as possible. We know
that the Indians, the lower orders of Irish, and the
slaves at the south, suffer very little in child bear-
ing. Why is this ? God made us all of one blood.
Is it not that these, living in a less artificial manner,
taking much exercise in the open air, and living
temperately, have obeyed more of the laws of their
being, and consequently do not suffer the penalty
of violated laws, as do our victims of civilization ?
220 LECTURES ON
LECTURE XII.
NERVOUS SYSTEM.
No form of nervous excitement is so injurious as
solitary vice. The reports of our hospitals for the
insane, if we had no other means of obtaining in-
formation, would convince us that this vice is ex-
ceedingly common. I shall proceed to show some
of its effects, and then point out its causes and the
means of preventing it. That the unnatural, pre-
cocious, or excessive development of the sexual
instinct is disease, as much as fever, and should be
treated as such, I am fully persuaded. If hospi-
tals were built for the social and solitary licentious,
instead of casting them out from society, and suffer-
ing them to herd in dens of infamy, destroying and
destroyed, society might be in a more healthy state.
But such is the excessive and diseased develop-
ment of the animal nature of man, that the civilized
world might well be turned into a hospital for the
cure of diseases caused by licentiousness.
In the reports of our lunatic hospitals, masturba-
tion, or solitary vice, ranks next to alcohol in pro-
ducing insanity. All the diseases caused by social
licentiousness are produced by this form of nervous
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 221
abuse. I would again remark, that many of these
diseases may be produced by other causes. I have
given advice in almost every form of disease in-
duced by this vice. I have seen idiocy and insan-
ity caused by it ; and I think with the excellent Dr.
Woodward, " that it is time something were done
to rescue the most moral, conscientious, and some-
times the most promising youth from the mind-
wasting ravages of an indulgence, of whose terrible
consequences they have never been forewarned."
Dr. Woodward says farther, " It is the vice of
ignorance, not of depravity ; the sufferers are per-
sonally less offenders than victims." This is a
truth to be remembered. We should labor in the
spirit of love, not of blame, for the restoration of
fallen, diseased humanity. Children are born with
the impress of sensuality upon their whole being,
in consequence of the excesses of their parents.
They are trained in a manner destructive to health,
and it would be indeed a miracle if they should es-
cape this vice.
I am unwilling to leave this subject without
again calling attention to the diseases which are
caused by this habit. There is hardly an end to
these diseases. Dyspepsia, spinal disease, head-
ache, epilepsy, and various kinds of fits, which dif-
fer in their character according to the degree of
abuse and consequent disease of the nervous sys-
222 LECTURES ON
tern. Impaired eye-sight, palpitation of the heart,
pain in the side, and bleeding at the lungs, spasm
of the heart and lungs, and sometimes sudden death,
are caused by indulgence in this vice. Diabetes,
or incontinence of urine, fluor albus, or whites, and
inflammation of the urinary organs, are induced by
indulgence in this practice. Indeed, this habit so
diseases the| nervous system, and through that the
stomach and the whole body, that almost every
form of disease may be produced by it; though
these disorders may arise from other causes, and
may afflict those who never indulged in the habit.
Some who have been in a degree enlightened on
these subjects, have feared to have others enlight-
ened, lest it should increase the evil. They say
there is safety in ignorance. I answer, the silent
course has been tried till our world has become one
vast pit of corruption. Has the world been safe
in its ignorance ? If not, will it be so hereafter ?
Deslandes says that St. Vitus' dance is also at
times caused by this vice.
Deslandes and Tissot contain abundant evidence
that the worst forms of spinal disease are occasion-
ed by masturbation. But light has dawned upon
us, and we should be thankful for the blessing.
About eight years since, my mind was awaken-
ed to examine this subject, by the perusal of a med-
ical work that described the effects of the vice,
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 223
when practised by females. This was the first in-
timation I had that the vice existed among our sex.
Since that time I have had much evidence that it
is fearfully common among them.
I have it from good authority, that among the
insane admitted into the lunatic hospitals, from
this cause, the proportion of females is nearly as
large as that of males. The reports of our luna-
tic asylums furnish melancholy evidence of the
prevalence and increase of this vice. In the Fifth
Annual Report of the State Lunatic Hospital at
Worcester, Mass., we find the following :.
" The number of cases of insanity from mastur-
bation [self-pollution] has been even greater than
usual, the past year, and our ill success in its treat-
ment the same. No good whatever arises in such
cases, from remedial treatment, unless such an im-
pression can be made upon the mind and moral
feelings of the individual, as to induce him to aban-
don the habit. In this attempt, even with the ra-
tional mind, we have to encounter mistaken views,
as well as active propensities. No effectual means
can be adopted to prevent the devastation of mind
and body, and the debasement of moral principle
from this cause, till the whole subject is well un-
derstood and properly appreciated by parents and
instructors, as well as by the young themselves."
How many of earth's noblest, even the brightest
224 LECTURES ON
and best of our youth, have sunk beneath slow,
wasting, nervous disease, the cause of which was
neither known nor suspected by themselves or their
friends. They have felt that they were doomed
that a destiny from which they could not escape
held them in its relentless grasp. They have shrunk
from the struggle of life as if they were all nerves,
and as if each nerve was bared to the pitiless pelt-
ing of the storm of life. They have felt sure that
they were born with a " constitutional nervous sen-
sibility," that made life a burden and a curse and
often they have sought refuge in voluntary death,
as a relief from sufferings that it was not in hu-
manity to bear. Though there are many causes
for nervous disease, still we have good reason to be-
lieve that many who rise every morning " like an
infernal frog out of Acheron, covered with the ooze
and mud of melancholy," may trace their misery to
this cause. Is he the friend of his species, is he
the true philanthropist nay more, is he a Christian,
who, knowing all this, can be silent ; can put his
finger on his lip and say, " this subject is too deli-
cate to be meddled with you will but increase the
evil by your efforts ?" Let ministers, let Christians
cease to denounce theft and murder. Let them
blot from the blessed Book the commands against
licentiousness, and give us an expurgated edition of
the Bible, lest the reading of the Holy Scriptures
increase the evil.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 225
A short time since, two sisters, ladies of the first
respectability, informed me that when very young,
they were put to a female boarding school, where
this vice prevailed, and the practice was explained
to them. They were blessed with parents who
were willing to converse with and warn their chil-
dren, and they escaped the contamination.
There is reason to believe that in nine cases out
of ten, those unhappy females who are the tenants
of houses of ill fame, have been the victims of this
vice in the first place. Were this the peculiar vice
of the low and vulgar, there might be more excuse
for the apathy and false delicacy that pervade the
community respecting it. But it invades all ranks.
Professed Christians are often among its victims.
Sometime since I became acquainted with a lovely
and intellectual young man, who was a student in
one of our theological seminaries. His health be-
came so poor that he was obliged to leave the sem-
inary and return to his friends. I saw him lose his
reason and become a maniac. I was satisfied, from
all the symptoms in the case, that this sin was the
cause of his wretched condition. He died without
recovering his reason, and a friend of his who was
in the seminary with him, told me after his decease,
that he was indeed a victim of solitary vice that
it caused his death.
226 LECTURES ON
The following statement was given me by a lady
of great worth and intelligence.
" MY DEAR MRS. G. You request an account
of my case. I little thought once that I should
ever communicate my fearful experience to any one.
But a sense of duty to my fellow creatures makes
me willing to give the facts in my case ; and if only
one is warned and saved from the misery it has been
my lot to endure, I shall greatly rejoice.
" My early education was religious, and guarded
in the extreme. I was taught early to repeat a
prayer every night ; and the Holy Scriptures were
my almost constant companion. My parents never
warned me against licentiousness, either social or
solitary. It is true, social licentiousness was allud-
ed to as a very shameful thing. Solitary vice was
never mentioned. My parents being people of prop-
erty, I was delicately reared, and took very little
exercise ; doing very little work, with the excep-
tion of nice and very laborious embroidery. I have
little doubt my sedentary habits were a great injury
to me.
" My parents were very luxurious in their mode
of living, using much animal food and large quanti-
ties of the different condiments. As nearly as 1
can recollect, I became addicted to solitary vice
about the age of nine years. I was never taught
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 227
the vice. Previous to this time, I think I had en-
joyed as much health as most children perhaps
more, for my constitution was always considered
unusually firm.
" At about twelve years of age, my health began
to fail; I became dyspeptic and nervous. I often
awoke in the morning bathed in tears ; and the most
indescribable and horrible sinking of spirits was my
portion during the forenoon. If I committed any
little mistake, or fault, the recollection of it would
haunt me for days, and make me superlatively
wretched. I became pale as death, weak, feeble
and emaciated. I had severe palpitation of the
heart, pain in the side, and many symptoms of con-
sumption. I had also, much of the time, distressing
pain in the head. I had much dizziness, and my
sight would often become entirely obscured, espe-
cially when I stooped and rose quickly. My pa-
rents were much alarmed about me, and the best
medical advisers were called. They termed my
disorder chlorosis,* and they gave me different pow-
erful medicines calomel, brandy and iron, and let
blood till my arms were frightfully scarred.
" During all this time I was practising solitary
vice to a great extent. My conscience often told
me it was wrong, but the force of habit prevailed
* A derangement of the menses.
228 LECTURES ON
against my better feelings, and I continued to com-
mit this sin against my body and soul. Social licen-
tiousness I had learned to consider a dreadful crime,
and I should have recoiled with horror from the
deed. O that some one had arisen then, like your-
self, to warn young women to tell them that sol-
itary vice was sin, was adultery, as well as social
licentiousness. O, how much misery I should have
escaped, and not I alone, but numbers of others,
had this been done. But no one raised the warn-
ing voice.
" For several years I continued in wretched
health. My father travelled with me, and spared
no pains or expense in purchasing gratifications, and
in procuring the attendance of physicians. But at
last relief came. God in his providence raised up
that blessed man, Dr. Graham, and opened his
mouth to speak on this subject. No words can
express my gratitude to this devoted philanthropist.
He stepped between me and death temporal, and
for aught I know, eternal. The blessing of him that
was ready to perish is emphatically his. Though
he, like yourself, may have to bear slander and
reproach for the blessed cause of purity, yet your
reward is sure.
" To Dr. Graham belongs greater praise than to
the conqueror of a world. Shortly after the publi-
cation of his Lecture to Young Men, I met with it.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 229
I opened it merely from curiosity, having little or
no idea what it contained. Never shall I forget the
mingled sensations of agony and gratitude that filled
my soul. I here read my sin and its consequences.
I procured a copy of the book, and perused it with
great care. I left the wicked habit, and confined
myself strictly to vegetable food, with a small quan-
tity of milk and good fruits. I took my meals reg-
ularly, about six hours apart. I procured a mat-
tress and slept on it, instead of feathers, and daily
used the cold bath. I took much exercise in the
open air, and was particular in ventilating my apart-
ment. In a short time my health began to improve.
" Before my mind was enlightened on the subject,
I had not the slightest idea that this practice was
injuring my health. I had suffered much from
a disease of the eyes. This soon left me. After
a time the pain in my side left me entirely. I
became free from palpitations and headache, and
the glow and animation of health again returned.
Though I began to recover very soon after the
change in my habits, yet the pain in my side con-
tinued with more or less severity for a considerable
length of time, and the tendency to palpitation was
very strong. 1 find myself now more inclined to a
disease of the eyes, palpitation, and pain in the side,
than any other illness. If I err in the quantity or
quality of my food, or the amount of my exercise, I
230 LECTURES ON
am apt to have a recurrence of these complaints ;
but by care I can maintain a comfortable state of
health all the time.
" I am acquainted with a number of persons who
have been the victims of this vice ; and I am per-
suaded, from their experience as well as my own,
that the entire abandonment of the habit, and the
adoption of the Graham system of diet and regimen,
will produce renovated health, if any means on
earth can do it.
" The Lord bless you, Mrs. G., and prosper you
abundantly in your efforts to spread light on this
truly awful subject. May parents be awakened, and
this foul and blighting curse be removed from our
midst."
A pious young woman has given me the follow-
ing. I have never received a statement of this kind
except from the most conscientious and worthy.
"Mr DEAR MRS. G. I am willing to give you
a statement of facts relative to solitary vice. You
say you never found it among your mates. Would
that I could say the same. My most dear and
intimate friend was a victim of this vice, though
considered a pattern of loveliness by those who
knew her. I was induced when quite young to
practise it, but not to any great extent. Fortu-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 231
nately, I met with a moral reform paper, that rep-
resented the evil in its true light. I left the habit
with loathing and abhorrence. I did not suffer
materially in my health, with the exception of an
obstinate disease of the eyes.
" With the most earnest desire that information
on this subject may be spread, I am your friend."
The distressing details to which I have listened
of nervous disease and irritability, of those disorders
which are peculiar to females, of moral aberrations
in consequence of the morbid condition of the suf-
ferer, and of a state of partial insanity, have brought
me to look upon my erring fellow creatures more
as patients, than as criminals more as the victims
of disease, than of crime. I would by no means
discredit the doctrine of accountability. So long as
the actions of persons are under the control of the
will, they are accountable for them. But we all
know that there is an amount of disease and insanity
that removes us beyond the limits of responsibility.
Let us diligently inquire into this matter before we
blame the erring.
Physicians have done much, within the last few
years, to stay the progress of solitary vice. But
many of them are still too fearful to do all that is
required at their hands. A short time since I was
conversing with a physician, who seemed to feel
232 LECTURES ON
deeply on the subject. "But," said he, "-what
can be done ? I dare not offend parents by telling
them the habits of their children. Only the other
day," said he, " I was called to a youth who was
destroying himself by this practice, but I dared not
mention it. The parents would have been very
angry if 1 had."
Surely it is the duty of physicians to make an
effort to save the children of such parents, and
clear their own souls of the guilt of suffering them
to perish for lack of knowledge, even if they anger
them. A parent had better be angry, than to
mourn over the premature death of a promising
child, or to see him languish in hopeless insanity or
idiocy.
One of the most powerful procuring causes of the
premature and excessive development of the sexual
instinct, is the neglect of exercise. Active exercise
in the open air, with a loose dress, is all important
to health, at all ages, but particularly during the
period of youth. The confinement of children
during six hours of the day, to one position, in our
close, un ventilated school rooms, is a tremendous
evil. Girls are much more unjustly treated than
boys, because they are not allowed scarcely any
exercise out of school, and because of their tight
dresses.
If I were asked on what conditions, more than
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 233
all others, health and purity depend, I should
reply, ACTIVE EXERCISE ATTRACTIVE INDUSTRY,
and HEALTHFUL EMPLOYMENT FOR BODY AND
MIND.
The bodies of children are enfeebled by indo-
lence. The brain is excited by premature instruc-
tion ; and the early reading of love tales, amatory
poetry, romances, &,c., excite the imagination un-
duly. Of course the imagination influences the
organism, and the fires of passion rage and consume,
while all without is calm. Parents and friends are
unsuspecting, but the worm is in the bud. The
healthy balance of the system is lost. A giant
passion is roused, and with morbid and insane vio-
lence it crushes its victim ; or if slower in its pro-
gress, it still saps the foundations of life and health,
and eventually destroys. Little can be effected in
cases like this by outward remedial treatment ; a
new direction must be given to the mind. Parents
and care-takers must be aware that nothing but a
passion can control and subdue a passion. They
must make powerful and judicious appeals to some
other passion or propensity. With some, the love
of life is strong, and the certain death that their
unhappy state will cause should be set before them.
Conscientiousness, reverence for God and his laws,
should be appealed to. But no occasional appeal,
no transient effect, should be trusted. Regular
16
234 LECTURES ON
attractive occupation for body and mind, should
above all means be provided for the sufferer.
We should strengthen the minds of the young by
encouraging them to read history, biography, and
books upon the natural sciences. The study of
philosophy, mathematics and the languages, is worth
much to health. Hygienic rules for securing the
health of the body are invaluable, when the mind
is taken into the account. But mere rules for the
treatment of the body, without reference to the
mind, must often, if not always, prove unsuccessful.
Improper associates do much toward corrupting
children. Still it will be altogether vain to guard
children from improper associates, if the conditions
of health are not complied with ; for they often as
effectually corrupt themselves as another could do
it. Still, our boarding and day schools are sources
of untold mischief. If parents and teachers, and
those who have the care of children, could know
the laws of health as respects body and mind, the
aspect of things in our world would soon be
changed. The terrible waste of health, and life,
and mental energy, that we now see result from the
excessive development of the animal nature of man,
would cease. Those sins that are the consequence
of this unnatural development would cease, and
then we might be convinced that the name of these
sins was " legion." There is vast meaning in the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 235
words of Scripture, that " men are perishing for
lack of knowledge."
The dietetic habits of the people have much to
do in causing the evil we are contemplating. A
stimulating, oily diet of animal food, is probably
next to neglect of exercise, in causing the undue
development and excessive indulgence of the ani-
mal instinct. Parents should religiously abstain
from giving their children rich, stimulating food, or
tea and coffee. Cold water is the only proper
drink for them. The importance of correct diet
should be felt by every parent. Alas, for children
and for parents, where the " table is made a snare."
The sins of Sodom were said to be pride, fulness of
bread, and abundance of idleness.
But some parents say, " If these things are so,
why have I not known it long ago ? " I know
many are reared in a plain, temperate, healthful
manner, and escape vice, and a knowledge of it.
Let such observe and inquire.
There is a great want of confidence between
parents and children. This ought not so to be,
Parents should confide in their children, and in-
struct and warn them, and treat them like reason-
able beings, and not like mere animals. If the}
are curious about their organization or origin, the}
should never be met with subterfuge and falsehood
236 LECTURES ON
but kindly told that when they are old enough they
shall be properly instructed.
We all know that the world is very corrupt, and
is growing more and more so. What is the course
for us to pursue in order to roll back the polluting
tide that is overwhelming our world with moral and
physical desolation. Every transgression against
the laws of our nature, is visited on the head of the
offender with a fearful penalty. The only course
by which we can hope to renovate the human
constitution, is, with the blessing of the Almighty,
a course of strict temperance, a course of obedience
to the laws of our nature, and the correct education
of our children and youth. Let children be reared
in temperance ; let them be daily bathed thoroughly :
let them sleep on a mattress of hair, straw, or some
elastic substance ; let them be encouraged to ex-
ercise ; let the mind be occupied in a healthy and
invigorating manner, and then the feeble, the in-
efficient, the nervous, the fanatic, will not cross our
path every hour, as they now do. Our insane hos-
pitals will not be flooded with victims, as they now
are, and those dens of infamy will cease to exist,
which are at once the product and the bane of
civilization. And the blessing of God will rest
upon us and our children.
The importance of a knowledge of these laws is
beginning to be felt. People begin to be aware
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 237
that insanity, idiocy and ill health have causes.
Formerly they were considered mysterious dispen-
sations of Providence. That they are dispensations
of Providence, and depend on infraction of God's
laws, phrenologists and physiologists have plainly
demonstrated.
Not long since I took up a book by a clergyman,
containing an account of a whole family of children
who were successively reduced to idiocy. The good
man marvelled at this mysterious providence being
permitted to afflict pious parents. He found the
case in darkness [to him] he left it so. Truly
such men must be called blind leaders of the blind,
however excellent their intentions may be.
In conclusion, let me entreat my sisters to study
the science of human life. It is the science of
sciences. We want light. The cause of humanity
is the cause of God, for
" God is paid when man receives.
Tb enjoy is to obey."
[When my Lectures were put to press, I supposed that the
popular course would make three hundred pages. The two
Lectures subjoined, though not in the regular course, I trust
will be found valuable to the reader.]
238 LECTURES ON
LECTURE XIII.
DISEASES OF THE SPINE.
DISEASES and deformities of the spine have be-
come so common, and almost fashionable, that it
seems to me the votaries of science would be verily
guilty, if they have so little philanthropy that
they neglect to speak out on this subject, and in
such a manner that the community can understand.
I know there is a class of the community who can
be benefited only in a reflex manner by scientific
efforts. The want of common and general informa-
tion, is a barrier raised between us and a certain
part of the people. But if those who are abundantly
able to understand these subjects, and to benefit the
world by their example and conversation, will but
use their energies, they will be instruments of great
good in correcting abuses. Sometime since I was
in a city where spinal diseases were very fashiona-
ble. A lady was ill, and a Thomsonian practition-
er was attending her. I inquired what her illness
was. "Why," said one lady, "she has got the
spine in her neck." It is evident these persons had
little knowledge of anatomy.
In considering distortions of the spine, it must be
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 239
kept in mind how much the muscles have to do in
keeping the body upright, and in maintaining the
equilibrium of the body. If the integrity of the
muscles is destroyed, they cannot support the spine.
For instance, if the muscles that support the chest
are paralyzed, they cannot hold the chest upright.
Hence that stooping posture so common among
young women who destroy the contractility of the
muscles by lacing. The spine is bent forward, the
intervertebral substance gives way, and assumes a
wedge-like shape, and the spine becomes fixed in a
degree of distortion.
Young persons who sit much in a stooping pos-
ture, or who incline to one side, and perhaps lean the
elbow on a bench or desk, are subject to distortion ;
the latter, to what is called lateral curvature of the
spine. It is indispensable to the health of muscles,
that they be alternately contracted and relaxed.
You have probably all noticed that we tire much
sooner when we stand for a considerable length of
time, than when we walk. More muscles are brought
into action by walking, than in standing. They
are thus alternately relaxed and contracted ; and this
is more favorable than either continued relaxation
or contraction. Children who are obliged by fear
of punishment to keep in a fixed posture at school,
suffer greatly from the continued contraction of the
muscles.
240 LECTURES ON
From being obliged to keep constantly poring
over a book, children contract a habit of stooping,
or resting on the right side at school ; and owing to
the length of time they are confined at the desk, the
evil is greatly increased. Lateral distortion of the
spine is thus produced. Many have this distortion
who are not aware of it. It generally first shows
itself in young girls by a prominence in the right
shoulder, and by the right breast appearing larger
than the other.
The following excellent extracts are from Dr.
Warren's Lecture on the Importance of Physical
Education. The reader will perceive that I
strengthen my positions by extracts from medical
men of eminence.
"Causes which affect the health and produce
general weakness, operate powerfully on this part,
in consequence of the complexity of its structure,
and the great burden it supports. When weaken-
ed, it gradually yields under its weight, becomes
bent and distp/ted, losing its natural curves, and ac-
quiring others, in such directions as the operation of
external causes tend to give to it ; and these curves
will be proportioned, in their degree and in their
permanence, to the producing causes. If the sup-
porting part is removed from its true position, the
parts supported necessarily follow, and thus a dis-
tortion of the spine effects a distortion of the trunk
of the body.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 241
" The change commonly begins at the part which
supports the right arm. The column bends towards
the right shoulder, forms a convexity on the side
where the shoulder rests, and thus elevates the right
higher than the other. This elevation, or, as it is
commonly called, growing out of the shoulder, is
the first phenomenon that strikes the friends of the
patient. Often when observed, it has already un-
dergone a considerable change of position ; and the
change is not confined to the shoulder, nor to the
portion of spine immediately connected with it. On
examination, it will be discovered that the curva-
ture to the right in the upper part of the column, is
accompanied, as a natural consequence, by a bend
of the lower part to the left, and a correspondent
projection of the left hip. It is perfectly obvious,
that the inclination of the upper part of a flexible
stick to one side, will leave the lower part on the
other ; and when, by this inclination, the vertical
support is lost, a disposition to yield at the curving
points will continually increase, until it be counter-
acted by some other power. Thus it happens, then,
that any considerable projection of the right shoul-
der will be attended by a correspondent projection
of the left hip.
" The rising of the shoulder involves other changes
in the osseous fabric. For, as the spinal bones sup-
port the ribs, when these bones project, they neces-
242 LECTURES ON
sarily push forward the ribs dependent on them.
These ribs form the frame of the chest, and of
course the right side of the chest is projected for-
wards, and causes a deformity in the fore part of
the body. Nor do the changes stop here. The
posterior ends of the ribs being pushed forwards,
and the anterior ends being confined to the sternum
or breast-bone, the right edge of the sternum will
be drawn forwards, and the left edge consequently
turned backwards. The fore-parts of the left ribs
will be gradually forced inwards or backwards, and
thus the left side of the chest distorted and con-
tracted.
" I am aware how difficult it is to have a distinct
notion of these intricate changes in the human ma-
chinery, without an exhibition of the parts concern-
ed in them ; but it is my duty to present the train
of phenomena as they exist in nature ; and I think
they are sufficiently intelligible to excite considera-
tion and inquiry.
" Perhaps it may be imagined, that the cases 1
have described are of rare occurrence, and that we
have no occasion to alarm ourselves about a few
strange distortions, the consequence of peculiar and
accidental causes. If such were in fact the truth,
I would not have occupied your time with the mi-
nute details of these unpleasant subjects. Unhap-
pily they are very common. I feel warranted in the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 243
assertion already intimated, that of the well-educated
females within my sphere of experience, about one
half are affected with some degree of distortion of
the spine. This statement will not be thought ex-
aggerated when compared with that of one of the
latest and most judicious foreign writers. Speaking
of the right, lateral curvature of the spine, just de-
scribed, he tells us, ' It is so common, that out of
twenty young girls, who have attained the age of
fifteen years, there are not two who do not present
very manifest traces of it.'
" The lateral distortion of the spine is almost
wholly confined to females, and is scarcely ever
found existing in the other sex. The proportion of
the former to the latter is at least nine to one. In
truth, I may say that I have scarcely ever witness-
ed a remarkable distortion, of the kind now spoken
of, in a boy. What is the cause of the disparity ?
They are equally well formed by nature ; or, if there
be any difference, the symmetry of all parts is more
perfect in the female than in the male. The differ-
ence in physical organization results from a differ-
ence of habits during the school education. It is
not seen till after this process is advanced. The
girl, when she goes from school, is, as we have be-
fore said, expected to go home and remain, at least
a large part of the time, confined to the house. As
soon as the boy is released, he begins to run and
244 LECTURES ON
jump and frolic in the open air, and continues his
sports till hunger draws him to his food. The re-
sult is, that in him all the organs get invigorated,
and the bones of course became solid ; while a de-
fect exists in the other proportionate to the want of
physical motion.
" A question may fairly be asked why these evils
are greater now than formerly, when females were
equally confined ? The answer, in reference to
the young females of our country is, that they then
took a considerable share in the laborious part of the
domestic duties ; now they are devoted to literary
occupations of a nature to confine the body and re-
quire considerable efforts of the mind."
You will readily see, that if the bones are not
properly formed, they will be bent out of place
much more easily. And bone cannot be properly
formed if the habits of the individual are wrong
if exercise is neglected, and pure air is not breathed.
We can hardly insist too much on exercise. The
bones of men, and of race horses during what is
called training, are hard and white like ivory. These
same bones will very soon degenerate where there
is neglect of exercise. If the food be improper in
quality or quantity, the blood will not be good.
Of course the bones cannot be properly formed.
Hence, too, distortion is easily produced.
Neglect of the skin causes bone to be improperly
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 245
formed. But you may ask, what can the skin
have to do with the bones ? The worn out, useless
and pernicious matter of the system is thrown out by
the excretories of the skin, when the functions of the
excretories are properly performed. The functions
of the skin cannot be properly performed, without
the pores are kept open by frequent bathing. Where
this is neglected, the waste matter of the system,
which should pass off through the pores, is thrown
upon the lungs. The lungs are made to do the
work of the skin. By this unnatural labor, and by
means of the morbific matter thrown upon the lungs,
they become diseased. The necessary changes by
which the blood becomes perfect cannot be pro-
duced. The blood is not good, and of course the
bones cannot be properly nourished. They become
soft, and easily bent out of shape. The super-
incumbent load that rests on the spine and pelvis,
peculiarly dispose these bones to distortion.
A scrofulous state of the bones often induces
distortion ; though this is but one among many
causes of distortion. Scrofula is at the present day
a prevalent and formidable disease ; and many
causes operate in its production.
It will at once be seen, that as all parts of the
body are dependent on the blood for nutrition, they
cannot be properly nourished unless the blood be
good. The muscles that support the spine become
246 LECTURES ON
weak, torpid and shrivelled. They cannot support
the spine. There will be irregular contractions and
relaxations. The spine will be thus distorted.
There are so many causes steadily at work to pro-
duce distortion, that it is not at all wonderful that
almost every third female we meet with is more or
less crooked. Whatever deteriorates the blood,
affects the muscles and the bones thus increasing
the chances of distortion. Impure air deteriorates
the blood. No blood can be good unless vitalized
by pure air. Improper and innutritious food of
course affects the blood, tending to produce scrofula
and other disorders.
Respecting the causes of scrofula, I find the
following sensible remarks in an essay on scrofula
by Dr. S. Durkee, of Boston, published in the
Boston Medical and Surgical Journal :
" Whatever is calculated to impair the healthy
tone of the system, may lay the foundation of the
disease. I have now under my care a young man
afflicted with scrofula, and in whom no hereditary
taint can be traced. He has, until recently, led a
sea-faring life. His complexion is dark. He is
one of five children belonging to the same family,
none of whom ever exhibited any signs of the
complaint ; nor yet the parents. This patient's
legs have been covered at times with large crops
of scrofulous ulcers, duriner the last four or five
* o
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 247
years. My knowledge of his habits satisfies me
that the disease is chargeable to them.
" Another case is that of a female, who from
childhood was the object of fond parental regard ;
and while no means were unemployed for the cul-
tivation of her mind, her physical education was
comparatively neglected, and, as a consequence,
her constitution, naturally slender, has been greatly
undermined. For several years she was kept at a
crowded boarding school, where little regard was
had to pure air, exercise and diet. Her digestive
powers first became enfeebled, which in time led
to a train of symptoms of uncommon obstinacy,
such as constipation, abdominal tumefaction, and
glandular enlargements. I have long been ac-
quainted with the family of which this young wo-
man is a member, and have no reason to suppose
that the scrofulous affections, under which she
suffers, are attributable to hereditary predisposition.
The health-destroying agencies to which she was
subjected in early years, operating slowly and in-
sidiously, afford an explanation of all that apper-
tains to her case, so far as causes are concerned.
" It is a matter of medical history, made certain
by the investigations of Alison, that scrofula pre-
vails to a greater extent in large towns and cities,
than in the open country. What is the reason of
this difference ? Certainly not because a higher
248 LECTURES ON ^CK?A1
per cent, of hereditary predisposition exists among
the same number of inhabitants in one district rather
than another, but because of the artificial modes of
life incident to the abodes of city residents. Causes
dissimilar in kind, but the same in effect, are con-
tinually at work among the operatives-of extensive
manufactories ; and hence the prevalence of the
disease in these establishments. It were idle to
dwell on these causes at length. Every practical
man in the profession is familiar with them ; and is
often compelled to contend with their influence in
his efforts to conquer the disease. Take, for in-
stance, an enlargement of the lymphatic glands in
the first stage. If the patient live in a close, con-
taminated atmosphere, and on meagre or unwhole-
some fare of any description, or if he be under the
influence of any cause calculated to bring debility
upon the system, every exertion to benefit him will
prove nugatory. Judicious hygienic measures con-
stitute the sheet anchor in the case ; and it may be
laid down as a correct proposition, that those
causes which interrupt the cure, will produce the
disorder. Scrofula has many features which bring
it into near alliance with scurvy.
" The digestive apparatus is the grand laboratory
for preparing the materials for the support of the
animal economy ; and if the digestive powers are
subjected to the influence of causes which serve to
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 249
debilitate them and disturb their proper functions,
the process of chylification, being a part of their
work, will be partially executed. The blood will
consequently be deteriorated in its properties
will be less nutritious less capable of sustaining
and stimulating the general organization, and the
vital forces will be depressed.
" If by reason of impure air, bad food, or imper-
fect digestion, the blood is degenerated and unfit
for adequate nutrition, the organs most essential to
life will often suffer to a fatal extent. So true is
this fact, that in the lower animals strumous affec-
tions in the lungs, mesentery, &c., can be produced
to almost any amount, by withholding a sufficiency
of food, or by allowing them that which is too rich.
Quadrupeds and birds, transferred from their wild
state and confined in menageries, where the atmos-
phere is contaminated, and their food too concen-
trated in form, frequently droop and die with lym-
phatic engorgements. The same causes produce
like effects in the human subject. In large towns
the children of the poor suffer for lack of healthy
sustenance, while those of the opulent are over-fed
with all the varieties which the genius of cookery
can invent.
" Of all artizans in this country, shoe-makers are
most liable to be attacked with scrofula from arti-
ficial causes. The apartments in which they labor
17
250 LECTURES ON
are small, and usually crowded ; the temperature is
raised to an unhealthy degree, and the confined
atmosphere largely impregnated with human effluvia
and the smoke of lamps and tobacco, as well as
with the specific exhalation arising from the mate-
rial manufactured. Their attitude, in leaning with
the head depressed for twelve or fourteen hours a
day, and the pressure of the shoes against the ster-
num, occasion a permanent deformity of the chest
and crookedness of the spinal column. These
causes induce torpidity in the functions of the
stomach and intestinal canal, and the whole diges-
tive apparatus is deranged ; the sanguineous fluid
is depraved, its circulation indolent, and the powers
of assimilation blunted the muscles flaccid, the
countenance pale and sickly, and the whole con-
stitution atonic."
In this country, the abundant use of pork is doubt-
less one great cause of scrofula. It is worthy of
remark, that the term scrofula comes from a Greek
word meaning swine evil, swine swellings, or morbid
tumors to which swine are subject. The use of
fat, be it ever so healthy a deposition, has a ten-
dency to produce disease, because it is so difficult
of digestion. But when mixed with the scrofulous
matter, as it doubtless often is, it must be productive
of much more evil. Let no one suppose that the
deadly virus of disease in the flesh of diseased ani-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 251
mals, strumous hogs, &c., can be eaten with impu-
nity. Sufficient quantities of plain, healthy, nutri-
tive food, free from oils, heating condiments, &cc.,
should be given to children to prevent scrofula.
Various opinions are entertained by different medi-
cal men respecting this dreadful scourge that in-
vades the glands, lungs, bones, &c.
I know of no animals afflicted with scrofula,
habitually, except men and swine. The reason
why these two classes of animals are alone infected
with this disease is sufficiently obvious. The habits
of other animals are not bad enough to cause the
disease ; but those of men and swine are just bad
enough. The manner in which swine are kept in
our country should claim the attention of all who
use their flesh as food.
I trust I shall be excused for giving so vulgar an
animal a place in my pages, when our delicate
females so often give it a place on their plates. I
claim none of that delicacy that would shun a dis-
agreeable subject, which it may be beneficial to
humanity to discuss.
It is well known that swine, in their natural
state, are very active animals. The wild boar of
Germany is exceedingly fleet, and always active.
Its food, too, consists of nuts and fruit principally,
though considered an omniverous animal. In its
natural state, it has the advantages of pure air,
252 LECTURES ON
good food, and abundance oi exercise. In the
artificial life to which the animal is now reduced, it
often has neither. Swine are fed on the most dis-
gusting substances the most loathsome offal.
They are kept in narrow pens, without exercise,
and they breathe the most horribly offensive atmos-
phere continually. Can we wonder that under
such circumstances scrofula is developed. Nor is
it at all wonderful, that with the same procuring
causes, man should be afflicted with the same dis-
ease, as he has one means of procuring the disorder
that the hog has not. Men eat the flesh of swine,
but the swine do not eat us.
It is true, distortion of the spine exists in many
cases where scrofula is not present, yet it must be
evident to all that its presence always increases the
evil. The present method of training children
makes it a matter of surprise that any escape
scrofula.
Let us contemplate the infant daughter, and fol-
low her from childhood to mature age. In nine
cases out of ten, perhaps ninety-nine out of a' hun-
dred, the parents, particularly the mothers, are dis-
eased.
A writer in the Boston Medical and Surgical
Journal says :
" I recently attended a post mortem examination
of an infant who had died of scrofula. The me-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 253
senteric glands were a mass of tubercles. The ap-
petite had been voracious the stomach had been
distended till it was nearly transparent. The body
was almost entirely bloodless. The brain, lungs
and pancreas were studded with tubercles. Much
of the brain was in a state of ramottissement. This
was a case of hereditary scrofula, evidently from
the father, showing conclusively that a subtle virus
may be communicated, causing this disease, as well
as syphilis.
" Still, unless the system is deeply infected with
the virus, have we not reason to believe that proper
management with respect to diet and regimen, may
eradicate the taint. I know a practitioner runs the
risk, in these days, of being dubbed a Grahamite, if
he recommends the antiphlogistic regimen in any
case, or if he dare dissent from the long received
opinion, that ' animal food is more nutritive and
stimulating than vegetable ; that is, that the same
quantity of the former will make more and richer
blood, and will satisfy the demands of the digestive
organs for a longer period, than the latter.' Now
I, for one, will not surrender the right of private
judgment, through fear that I shall be ranked with
this or that class of real or supposed fanatics.
" It is conceded by all, that meagre diet of any
kind, has a tendency to produce scrofula. It has
been my lot to mark the effects of a well-regulated
254 LECTURES ON
vegetable diet in a number of cases of scrofula
cases of long standing, and of a marked bad char-
acter. My experience in these cases has not dem-
onstrated that a mixed diet was best. I am not
about to say there are no cases of a character to de-
mand animal food. But in every case that has
come under my observation, of hereditary or in-
duced scrofula, where a well-regulated vegetable
aliment has been used, it has been with advantage.
In several instances a decided improvement and ul-
timate cure was obtained by abstaining even from
milk. I have seen some of the finest specimens of
athleta who lived upon an exclusively vegetable
diet not even partaking of milk ; and I think I
should not be haunted with fears of diminished
strength, if I could make up my mind to abstain
from animal food.
"Ought we not to be impressed with the belief
that prophylactic means are worth infinitely more
than therapeutic ? When mothers become enlight-
ened on the subject of physical education when
pure air, exercise, the use of the bath and a proper
attention to the diet of children shall become as
common as the neglect of these several particulars
now is, may we not hope to see scrofula decrease
as rapidly as it has increased for a few years past ?
Would it not be profitable to inquire how far the
compression which is exerting its influence on the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 255
nervous tissues, the circulatory system, and directly
on the spinal column, has an effect to derange the
normal functions of the system, and to produce
scrofula ? "
The child at birth is made the recipient of
unhealthy nourishment. There are many causes
which combine to make the mother's milk unhealthy.
The functions of the whole system are depraved.
The lying-in chamber is generally a most unhealthy
place. Pure air is almost by common consent ex-
cluded from the lying-in chamber. The vitiated
air of the room is loaded with impure exhalations.
The child is often enveloped in the bed clothes, and
its head so covered that it has but a poor chance
even to breathe the bad air allowed. Its tender
body is bound with a tight swathe, or the more recent
contrivance of the elastic band, which, in many in-
stances, exactly resembles the leg of a coarse wool-
len footing, is drawn on to chafe the tender skin.
Clothes a half a yard too long impede, and indeed
hinder its first attempts at motion. Bathing is in a
great majority of cases entirely neglected. The
first four weeks are generally spent in a confinement
poorly calculated to make the child enjoy its new
mode of existence, or insure its continuance in it.
To an unreflecting mind, it may seem strange
that in many situations half the children die before
attaining maturity. It is stated that of 1000 chil-
256 LECTURES ON
dren born in London, 650 die before ten years of
age. It is stated by Combe, that " one hundred
years ago, when the pauper infants of London were
received and brought up in the work-houses, amid
impure air, crowding, and want of proper food, not
above 1 in 24 lived to be a year old ; so that out
of 2800 received into them, 2690 died yearly. But
when the conditions of health came to be better
understood, and an act of Parliament was obtained,
obliging the parish officers to send the infants to
nurse in the country, this frightful mortality was
reduced to 450, instead of upwards of 2000."
Of the alarming injustice done the female frame,
from a very tender age, we are all aware, or might
be, if we will open our eyes. It is stated by Dr.
John Bell, one of the greatest men of our age,
" that in ten females free from disease, about eigh-
teen or twenty years of age, the quantity of air
inspired and expired averaged about three pints and
a half, whilst in young men of the same age it was
found to amount to six pints an alarming contrast,
after allowing for the natural difference in the size
of the chest." How deep the guilt of that mother
who compresses the tender frame of her infant
daughter, cramping the chest, distorting the spine,
obliterating much of the circulation, compressing
the lungs, and producing misery that it would take
a volume to describe in all its details.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 257
With boys, much of the injustice of the nursery
ceases as they grow older. They are allowed to
mix in out-door sports and active exercise. Free
circulation and breathing pure air make them com-
paratively robust and healthy. Not so with girls.
They are confined to the school room, the piano,
and often to embroidery. They are fed on delica-
cies, pies, pastry, &c. Take the hardiest animal
in the world the dog, the bear, or the lion, and
rear him as are our young ladies, and it would ruin
his constitution. Do we wonder at the sufferings
and ill health of the daughters of our land, when all
is wrong with them from the cradle to the grave ?
With chest deformed, spine and pelvis distorted,
and every organ and tissue of the body imperfectly
nourished, can we expect woman to become a
mother without indescribable anguHh ? Or can we
expect her offspring to live out half the days al-
lotted to man ?
Distortion of the spine is vastly more common
than many suppose. Dr. Warren of Boston says,
" I feel warranted in the assertion, that of the well
educated females within my sphere of experience,
about one half are affected with some degree of
distortion of the spine." Such a statement, from a
man of such enlarged experience and great skill as
Dr. Warren, should alarm us exceedingly.
La Chaise, in his work on Curvatures of the
258 LECTURES ON
Vertebral Column, when speaking of lateral distor-
tion, expresses his belief that " out of twenty young
girls who have reached their fifteenth year, there
are not two who do not exhibit very manifest traces
of it." Dr. Forbes says, " We lately visited in a
large town a boarding school containing forty girls,
and we learned on close and accurate inquiry, that
there was not one of the girls who had been at the
school two years, (and the majority had been as
long,) that was not more or less crooked."
This is truly a lamentable, a deplorable picture
of society. Is it necessary that this state of things
should exist ? If so, why are not animals thus dis-
eased ? The lambs that sport in our fields without
stays or braces, with natural food, and water for
their drink, have no spinal distortion, and no scrofu-
lous bones. Btft the confinement, and compression,
and impure air, and improper food of females, are
enough to produce both these evils, and many more.
It is much more wonderful that females suffer so
little, than that they suffer so much. Besides the
abuses to which they are subjected, they are born
with deteriorated constitutions, and often the whole
system is infected with scrofula and other diseases
"before birth.
I do not mean to give the idea that scrofula causes
all the spinal distortions. By no means. But it
always aggravates distortion when it has invaded
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 259
the bones. There are cases of great suffering and
disease from an affection of the medulla spinalis, and
the nerves which proceed from it, independent of
distortion. Abuse of the nervous system, either by
solitary or social licentiousness, causes spinal dis-
ease of a terrible character. In spinal disease the
injury often is threefold. First, the mechanical
pressure exerted by the distorted spine upon the
nerves ; secondly, the morbific influence that has
caused the distortion ; and thirdly, often an amount
of nervous abuse that very greatly aggravates every
other evil.
I have read much on spinal diseases and the
mode of cure, and I feel that there is hope even in
very bad cases. It will be evident to all that those
hurtful influences that have produced the disorder
must be removed. Strict attention should be paid
to hygienic rules in eating, drinking, dressing, sleep-
ing, air, exercise, bathing, &c.
Unless proper food be eaten at proper times and
in proper quantities, we cannot expect good blood.
The best regulated diet will avail little if compres-
sion is exerting its baneful influence. Again, if there
be no compression, if pure air be not breathed and
cleanliness attended to, we shall have disastrous re-
sults.
The means for the prevention and cure of spinal
diseases and distortions are the same. Dr. John
260 LECTURES ON
Bell says, " Regular and varied exercise in the open
air, and that systematic kind by gymnastics, and
good nourishing food, are the chief means for ac-
complishing this end. A perseverance in these,
for a length of time, has been followed by a cure in
cases of a most discouraging nature." Speaking of
those who are in quest of health and strength, he
says, " To attain this end, no bitter, nor tonic, nor
cordial, derived from the shops, no fermented, and
still less alcoholic liquor can be regularly taken. On
the contrary, a long perseverance in their use will
be found eminently detrimental both to health and
beauty. The only means of permanent restoration
of the exhausted economy and feeble frame, and de-
ficiency of contour, are plain nourishing food, free
exercise in the open air, regular occupations, tran-
quillity of mind, and a proper allotment of time for
sleep."
LECTURE XIV.
EDUCATION.
VARIOUS terms have been used to characterize
our age. It has been called the " excital age," the
" mechanical age," &tc., but it seems to me to be the
age of discovery. Great truths, fastened by golden
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 261
links to the throne of God, are thrown world wide,
to be gathered up by mortals. Men are needed to
present these truths to the world. The way-farers
are too busy to heed them. It is a hard thing for
these to cry truth in the market places ; but all
things, I had well nigh said, are sold in the sham-
bles in our age.
The Divine Providence gives great minds to our
world to discover truth to meet out necessities.
But there is so much simulation, so many errors
that only gain currency by counterfeiting truth, that
men are cautious. This is well ; it brings out the
energies of the apostles of truth. They are strength-
ened by hardships, and inattention, and neglect.
Like the infants of savages, none but the hardiest
survive the hardships of their lot. They get " not
what they wish, but what they want" in their in-
tercourse with their fellow men.
I have sometimes thought inattention more pain-
ful to the philanthropist than contention. If men
will think enough to quarrel wjth truth, they are
coming. The mischief is, men do not think, as
a mass. They appoint some one, if not by vote, at
least tacitly, to do their thinking ; and they thank-
fully receive ready made dogmas, and perhaps pay
for them.
With all deference to our very wise world, I am
inclined to think that the word education is not un-
derstood.
262 LECTURES ON
Some years ago, a friend made me a present of a
beautiful ice plant. I immediately set about culti-
vating it in such a manner as would insure the
largest amount of leaves and blossoms. I succeed-
ed. It was the admired of all admirers ; but " pass-
ing away" was written on it. I had educated it
to death. Such is the course pursued with our
children. Those of you who know my labors in
the cause of physical education, will not expect me
to separate physical from intellectual culture in my
remarks. " What God hath joined together, let not
man put asunder."
I find so many more valuable thoughts on the
subject of education than my own, that I feel bound
to bring them before you. The following thoughts
from the Common School Journal, that able organ of
truth, which is, or ought to be, the boast of Massa-
chusetts, are beautifully true :
" Physical education is not only of great impor-
tance on its own account, but, in a certain sense, it
seems to be invested with the additional importance
of both intellectual and moral ; because, although
we have frequent proofs that there may be a hu-
man body without a soul ; yet, under our present
earthly conditions of existence, there cannot be a
human soul without a body. The statue must lie
prostrate, without a pedestal ; and, in this sense,
the pedestal is as important as the statue.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 263
" The present generation is suffering incalcula-
bly under an ignorance of physical education. It
is striving to increase the number of pleasurable
sensations, without any knowledge of the great laws
of health and life, and thus defeats its own object.
The sexes, respectively, are deteriorating from their
fathers, and especially from their mothers, in con-
stitutional stamina. The fifteen millions of the
United States, at the present day, are by no means
five times the three millions of the revolutionary
era. Were this degeneracy attributable to mother
Nature, we should compare her to a fraudulent
manufacturer, who, having established his name in
the market for the excellence of his fabrics, should
avail himself of his reputation to palm off subse-
quent bales or packages, with the same stamp, or
ear-mark, but of meaner quality. Thus it is with
the present race, as compared with their ancestors ;
short in length, deficient in size and weight, and
sleazy in texture. The activity and boldness of the
sanguine temperament, and the enduring nature of
the fibrous, which belonged to the olden time, are
succeeded by the weak refinements of the nervous,
and the lolling, lackadaisical, fashionable sentimen-
tality of the lymphatic. The old hearts of oak are
gone. Society is suffering under a curvature of the
spine. If deterioration holds on, at its present rate,
especially in our cities, we shall soon be a bed-rid
264 LECTURES ON
people. There will be a land of ghosts and shad-
ows this side of Acheron and the Elysian fields.
Where are the young men, and, emphatically,
where are the young women, who promise a green
and vigorous age at seventy ? The sweat and toil
of the field and of the household are despised, and
no substitute is provided for these invigorating ex-
ercises. Even professed connoisseurs, who lounge
and dawdle in the galleries of art, and labor to
express their weak rapture at the Jove-like stature
and sublime strength of Hercules, or at the majes-
tic figure of Venus, beneath whose ample zone
there resides the energy which prevents grace from
degenerating into weakness, even they will belie,
in dress and contour, all the power and beauty they
profess to admire. There is a general effeminacy
in our modes of life, as compared with the indurat-
ing exposures of our ancestors. Our double-win-
dows ; our air-tight houses ; our heated and un ven-
tilated apartments, from nursery to sleeping room
and church ; the multitude of our garments of fur,
and down, and woollen, numerous as the integu-
ments around an Egyptian mummy, beneath
which we shrink, and cower, and hide ourselves
from our best friend, the north-west wind ; our car-
riages in which we ride when we should be on foot ;
all these enervating usages, without any equiva-
lent of exercise or exposure, are slackening the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 265
whole machinery of life. More weakly children
are born than under the vigorous customs and hardy
life of our fathers ; and, what is still more signifi-
cant, a far greater proportion of these puny chil-
dren, under our tender and delicate nursing, are
reared, than was formerly done. A weak cohesion
still exists in many a thread of life, which, under
the rough handling of former times, would have
been snapped. Amid hardship and exposure, the
young were toughened or destroyed. Nature pass-
ed round among them, as a gardener among his
plants, and weeded out the blasted and mildewed.
She shook the tree till the sickly fruits fell off. She
did not preserve these as the stock from which to
produce the still more degraded fruits of a second
season. But, under the modern hot-house system,
the puny and feeble are saved. They grow up
without strength, passing from the weakness of
childhood to that of age, without taking the vigor of
manhood in their course. By the various applian-
ces of art, indeed, the stooping frame can be kept
upright, and the shrunken be rounded out into the
semblance of humanity. But these cheats give no
internal, organic force. Though the arts of bolster-
ing up the human figure, and of giving to its un-
sightly angles the curvilinear forms of grace, should
grow into a science, and its practice should be the
most lucrative of professions, yet not one element
18
266 LECTURES ON
of genuine beauty or dignity will be thereby gained.
Such arts can never bestow elasticity and vigor upon
the frame, nor suffuse 'the human face divine*
with the roseate hues of health. The complexion
will still be wan, the pulse feeble, the motions lan-
guid. The eye will have no fire. The imagina-
tion will lose its power to turn all light into rain-
bows. The intellect will never be sufficiently
expanded to receive a system of truths ; and single
truths cut out from their connections, and adopted
without reference to kindred truths, always mislead.
The affections will fall, like Lucifer, from the
upper, to fasten upon objects in the nether sphere.
In a word, the forces of the soul will retreat from
the fore-head to the hind-head, and the brow, that
' dome of thought and palace of the soul,' will be
narrow and ' villanously low ; ' for it is here that
Nature sets her signet, and stamps her child a phi-
losopher or a cretin. Here she will not suffer her
signatures to be counterfeited, for neither tailors nor
mantua-makers can insert their cork or padding
beneath the tables of the skull."
Education means to form the manners, to instruct,
to nurture, &c. But the received definition seems
to relate principally to the mere memorizing of
words at school. A good definition of education is
given by a recent writer :
" The highest object of education is that of form-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 267
ing the mind and character to every thing that is
manly and useful, developing the physical powers
in their highest perfection, and seeking a correspon-
dent development of the intellectual and moral man ;
preparing men for the practical business of life ; to
provide for their own subsistence and welfare, and
the subsistence and welfare of others ; to advance
civilization ; to increase the wealth of the commu-
nity ; to adorn and embellish society by all the arts
that ingenuity can invent, and to contribute to the
general comfort, to multiply and extend the means
of enjoyment and improvement, and further the
progress of mankind in all that is useful and good."
We hear of young ladies who have "finished
their education ! " that is, they are just out of a
boarding school, where perhaps some six or eight
were crowded into one apartment at night, like so
many prisoners. Are their bodies developed in a
healthy manner? Are they hardy and robust?
Can they engage in rural sports or labors with ease,
comfort, and indeed high enjoyment? Are their
minds disciplined and strengthened? Can they
think deeply, closely and rationally on any given
subject, and write out their thoughts ? Will a work
on metaphysics give them more pleasure than a
work of fiction, addressed to their feelings ? I will
endeavor to answer each of these questions accord-
ing to truth.
268 LECTURES ON
The first three questions may be ably answered
by the following quotations from Dr. Warren's able
lecture on the importance of physical education, de-
livered before the American Institute.
" Action is the object for which organization was
created. If the organs are allowed to remain inac-
tive, the channels of life become clogged, and the
functions, and even the structure, get impaired.
Young animals are filled with the desire of motion,
in order that the fluids of the body may be forced
rapidly through their tubes, the solids thus elonga-
ted and enlarged, and every part gradually and fully
developed.
" The immediate consequences of action on the
bodily frame are familiar and visible to daily expe-
rience. Observe the sinewy arm of the mechanic.
The muscles are large and distinct ; and when put in
motion, they become as hard as wood, and as strong
as iron. Notice those who are accustomed to carry
considerable weights on the head. The joints of
the lower limbs are close-set and unyielding ; the
frame perfectly erect, and the attitude commanding.
In the cultivator of the soil, though the form may
be vitiated by neglect, you may observe that the
appearance of every part is healthful, vigorous, and
well fitted for labor.
" While all of us are desirous of possessing the
excellent qualities of strength, hardiness and beauty,
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 269
how defective are our systems of education in the
means of acquiring them ! In the present state of
civilization, a child, soon after it can walk, is sent
to school ; not so much for the purpose of learning,
as to relieve its parents of the trouble of superin-
tending its early movements. As he grows older,
the same plan is incessantly pursued and improved
on, till a large part of his time is passed in sedentary
pursuits and in crowded rooms. In the short inter-
vals of mental occupation, the boy is allowed to fol-
low the bent of his inclinations, and seeks in play
that exercise which nature imperiously demands.
The development of his system, though not what
it was destined to be, is attained in a certain way ;
and he is exempted from some of the evils which
fall heavily on the other sex.
" The female, at an early age, is discouraged from
activity, as unbecoming her sex, and is taught to
pass her leisure hours in a state of quietude at home.
The effects of this habit have been already spoken
of in general terms ; and I would now point out some
of its results in a specific manner.
" In the course of my observations, I have been
able to satisfy myself that about half the young fe-
males brought up as they are at present, undergo
some visible and obvious change of structure ; that
a considerable number are the subjects of great and
permanent deviations ; and that not a few entirely
270 LECTURES ON
lose their health from the manner in which they are
reared."
There is a natural joyousness in children, when
they are not broken by disease, the same as in the
young of all animals. This natural playfulness, if
indulged, insures to a great extent the proper de-
velopment of their frames. But they are cramped
and confined every way, especially females. Their
dress makes it even dangerous to exercise ; and then
if they go out of their measured pace, they are
checked, and told that such things are very im-
proper for a little girl ; and perhaps the names romp,
or " torn-boy " are added, to effectually cure the
child of a disposition to healthful exercise. For six
hours a day children must be confined in our prisons
called schools ; but then boys make partial amends
for this ; but girls are prisoners for life. With such
an education for soul and body as our females re-
ceive, the law may well class women with infants,
minors and idiots, as it does. And yet, under all
her disabilities, there are gleams of intelligence to
be found even among us, that give promise of a
brighter day, when men and women shall under-
stand all the laws that govern body and mind, and
act in accordance with them.
It is painful to me to be obliged to present such
answers to these questions, but every day's observa-
tion confirms their truth. We see ill health and all
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 271
its train of evils on every hand. I have shown yon
in these pages that the miseries of our miserable
race commence even before birth. Children live, if
live they can, through the errors and ignorance that
surround the nursery, and then they are sent with
the brain all unformed to our schools, which are
nurseries of disease. The females, surrounded by
all the disadvantages that custom heaps upon them,
grow up feeble and frail. Let us contemplate one
of these fair daughters when she first sustains the
relation of a wife and a mother.
A year since she was led to the altar, a white
robed vision of loveliness. Alas ! the worm was
even then in the bud, and her husband and friends
are soon called to weep over the grave of buried
hopes. " After life's fitful fever she sleeps well."
But did God intend that this misery should be the
portion of his creatures ? Did he intend that the
marriage relation, his own divine institution, should
be the prelude to sufferings that no pen can de-
scribe, and that often end in the death of one or both
of the beloved beings on whom the friends hang
with souls full of anguish and love ?
We return again to the questions, Has our present
system of education a tendency to strengthen the
mind, to make deep and rational thinkers ? The
vast demand for fictitious writings would alone an-
swer these questions. Is the philosopher as well
272 LECTUHES ON
understood and as much honored by the mass as the
writer of fictions, puerile though innocent ?
I do not ask for the same education for woman
that man receives. I do not wish to leave my sub-
ject to enter into an argument about the equality of
the sexes. I know full well, as woman is educated
and enslaved by circumstances, that she is not equal
to man. Whether she would be in a better state of
things, I stop not to inquire.
That there will always be a dissimilarity between
the sexes, whether their education be the same or
different, I think no one will deny. But dissimilar-
ity is no proof of inferiority. Man has more of in-
tellect, woman more of affection. But I have yet
to learn that wisdom is superior to love.
For the sake of the race, I ask that all be done
for woman that can be done, for it is an awful
truth that fools are the mothers of fools. For
myself, I know that I am not a shadow of
what I might have been had I been rightly edu-
cated educated with wise reference to soul and
body. I am a crushed wreck, a miserable remnant
of humanity ; and knowing the disabilities under
which I labor, I can plead for children.
My mind takes cognizance of a few truths ; but
had it not been broken by disease, I might have
bathed in the ocean of truth, instead of catching
drops of spray. But this is a heart sickening sub-
ject, and I leave it.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 273
I am not one of those who charge man with in-
justice to woman. Man as man is no more unjust
to woman than he is to himself. Both are the
slaves of circumstances.
There is no doubt in my mind, that society, as it
is, is radically and fundamentally wrong ; but we
must make the best of it. Children ought to be
under the care of those who have an attraction for
the care and education of the young. Gold never
bought affection.
Confinement and impure air are not the only evils
of our schools ; and we may well expect to ask in
vain for pure air for our schools, when the wisdom
of our state legislature is not sufficient to insure a
supply of pure air. I have just come from the state
house in Boston, and I there saw our senators and
representatives deliberating amid an atmosphere so
impure and disgusting, that it not only causes much
present discomfort, but must very much shorten life.
One of the representatives remarked to me that he
" knew of nothing that he would more gladly pur-
chase than fresh air." But such is the state of ig-
norance and inattention on the subject, that a few
who feel the importance of breathing pure air, do
not hazard the expression of an opinion respecting
the advantages of ventilation.
The evil which I am now about to mention I
charge upon community. It is educating our chil-
274 LECTURES ON
dren as Americans do every thing else, in a hurry.
We live in a hurry, we eat, drink, walk and think,
if we have time to think at all, in a hurry. It is
the vanity of parents that leads to the destruction
of their children. Infant schools are such a mon-
strosity, that is, where the brain of the child is
forced, as we often see, that they deserve indictment
as much as many other crimes that spring from igno-
rance and pride.
The brain of the child, according to Meckel, is
not formed in all its parts till the seventh year.
This delicate unformed organ is subjected to such
excitement in our schools, that it is diseased, and the
whole body with it and often insanity is caused.
Dr. Pierce, a man of whom Philadelphia ought to
be proud, says " that undue excitement is not
only injurious to the brain as an organ of the body,
but also deranges its functions, producing various
diseases of the system, and oftentimes insanity."
He says farther, " I shall endeavor to show that the
course pursued in our schools in regard to the edu-
cation of children, has this injurious tendency, and
entirely fails of the object for which it was intended.
It is generally known that clever children are sel-
dom clever men. The brain is exhausted by over-
culture, and the parents' vanity is satisfied by show-
ing off a very forward or bright child at the expense
of health, life and intellect. Parents see no con-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 275
nection between the unnatural excitement of the
partially formed brain of their child, and dropsy of
the brain, various nervous disorders, and that imbe-
cility which is the fate of their children in after years.
When parents lament that their children are dull,
poor scholars, and that no force can make them
study when they are bright and active for play and
mischief, I rejoice. Happy is the child who can-
not be broken into an intellectual drudge, who can-
not be excited to preternatural exertion of the mind,
who will not submit to be crammed with intellectual
food, as fowls are crammed, fattened and diseased
for a market. Education is powerful for good or
evil. The brain and nervous system, the body and
mind of the child, are to a greater or less extent de-
stroyed by the unnatural training. Why is it that
great men and great women are scarce ? Do you
suppose that only one great soul is created in a cen-
tury ? or do you suppose the manifestations of mind
are dependent on the organization of the body, and
that parents and teachers, and the false and unnatu-
ral state of society, by diseasing the body and over-
tasking the minds of our youth, produce those apol-
ogies for men and women with which our world is
cumbered ? They strangle and suffocate greatness
in its earliest years. Do not think I have finished
my catalogue of evils. A child may grow up amid
impure air and confinement, and over-culture, weak,
276 LECTURES ON
feeble and irritable, it is true, but if he is rightly gov-
erned, all the mischief that could be done him is not
accomplished. If the moral atmosphere he breathes
is love, the child is not wholly ruined. But how
many teachers suppose that it is improper to treat
children kindly and familiarly ! They suppose that
their dignity would be compromised by such a
course. They do not say, " John, or Mary, will
you have the goodness to do such a thing, or please
attend now to your studies." But, " John, study
your book ; do n't let me see you gazing about. If
I see you laugh again, I '11 give you something to
laugh for." These are little things, but straws show
the way of the wind. I know there are kind teach-
ers who do not for ever make a show of authority.
There are those who are not hirelings, for their
hearts are in their work. These will not be hurt
by my remarks. I have heard a teacher say that
her scholars loved her dearly, though she scolded
and whipped them. This fact speaks well for the
children ; but the fount of affection runs dry after a
time ; and many an impatient, unlovely man had his
temper ruined at school, and looks back to Mrs.
Birch with feelings that I should not like to have
cherished towards me.
The government of schools seems to me as rad-
ically wrong as the other circumstances that sur-
round them. The motive power of all teachers
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 277
should be love. They should have an attraction
for teaching. They should love truth, and love to
communicate it. I know many say children can-
not be governed by love. Have those who assert
this ever made the trial ? I know the natures of
even young children are terribly perverted by abuse.
When all is wrong at home with children, the
teacher's labor is very much increased. But the
superiority of love to brute force has not been suf-
ficiently tested in our schools. Love is power, al-
ways. It may not give us all power over a per-
verted and hardened mind, but it gives much. God
is omnipotent, and he is love.
I have had much experience in teaching, and I
wish no power over pupils that affection will not
give me. I have had lads placed under my care
that neither parents nor teachers could govern,
with rods, force and fear to aid them, and yet they
have been immediately subdued by calmness, kind-
ness, and the conviction that I heartily desired
their good.
A lad was once confided to my care, of ten or
twelve years of age. He had been turned out of
the village school as wholly unmanageable. He
had been severely whipped many times. Indeed,
it seemed to me that severity and the rod had
made him reckless. He came into my school a
perfect Ishmaelite. The first day he glowered
278 LECTURES ON
around him without attending to any thing particu-
larly. In the afternoon, at recess, instead of going
out with the boys by the door, he very deliberately
leaped from a large open window next the road.
This was probably intended as the commencement
of hostilities with me. I took no notice of the
transaction till the close of the school. I then
requested him to stop a few minutes. He sullenly
took his seat, and I seated myself beside him. His
health was poor. He was a pale, nervous child,
with combativeness enough, without arousing or
irritating the organ. I spoke to him as a reasoning
being, with a kindness which I really felt ; for his
extreme waywardness had aroused no other feeling
in my heart. I spoke to him of living in the world
as he ought, in order to insure his own comfort and
that of his parents. I told him he must, if he lived,
become a man ; that I wished him to be a happy
and useful man. I spoke of his capacity for use-
fulness, which was truly respectable. I drew a
picture of the happiness enjoyed in my school, and
told him that I required obedience to all the rules
of the school, and that the only penalty for disobe-
dience was expulsion from the school ; that I had
no other punishment. I alluded to his rude con-
duct, and playfully asked him if he did not know
that doors were made to go out at, and not windows.
The little fellow's combativeness was completely
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 279
put asleep. His heart was touched ; and when I
gave him his choice to leave the school or make an
acknowledgment that his conduct had been im-
proper, and ask the school to forgive him, he
readily chose the latter; and during the whole
time he was under my care, he gave me no more
trouble than the other scholars. He knew that if
he conducted with propriety, he should be happy
with us ; and that if he did not, he knew he was
self expelled from the atmosphere of love.
I could relate very many instances of a similar
character.
The manner in which children are classed at
school is often productive of much mischief. The
dull, slow scholar, who is obliged to study long
and patiently, is placed beside the quick intellect,
that enables its possessor to know a lesson by in-
tuition almost ; and both scholars are required to
get the same lessons. Often the result of this pro-
cedure is to discourage the slow child, and give an
inflated, unhealthy confidence to the " bright child."
A judicious course in classing these scholars would
often doubtless make the dull child a better scholar
than the more brilliant. A slow, reasoning intel-
lect is often more valuable than the rapid intuitive
kind.
I think it must be obvious to all, that the intel-
lectual powers can never reach that state of per-
280 LECTURES ON
fection which is desirable, unless the body is de-
veloped in health. Attractive industry, or agree-
able exercise, are indispensable to health. There
is no doubt that it would be far better for children
at an early age to be trained to attractive industry.
But if this cannot be procured, and we know that
it cannot, only in isolated cases, in the present state
of society, then agreeable and healthful exercise
should be provided.
Some years ago, when calislhenic exercises were
introduced into schools, public opinion was very
much against them. Five or six years since I in-
troduced a variety of exercises into my school in
Lynn, Mass. Strong opposition was manifested by
some ; but in two or three years a teacher who
proposed to establish a school there, advertised
calisthenic exercises, and it was considered a re-
commendation of her school. This shows that
public sentiment is changing. Within the last year
a school for teaching young ladies calisthenic exer-
cises, has been established in Boston, by Mrs.
Hawley, a lady who has taught these exercises for
the last fifteen years. This admirable establishment
is well patronized, having at this time one hundred
and seventy pupils from the most intelligent fami-
lies in the city.
The following notice of this establishment from
the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, shows
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 281
the light in which these exercises are viewed by
the medical profession. It gives me great pleasure
to pay this well deserved tribute to Mrs. Hawley in
this lecture :
" A refined civilization is unfortunately accom-
panied by various forms of physical deterioration,
for which it is one of the special objects of science
to provide a remedy. People of advanced age,
who do not trouble themselves to philosophize on
whatever strikes them as a departure from the
common appearance of every day things, never
heard in their youth of curved spines, distorted
shoulders, or any other unsymmetrical derangement
of the frame-work of the body, which are so char-
acteristic of the present age, that institutions are
exclusively devoted to their correction. Experience
shows, too, that they are exceedingly necessary ;
and they have been, therefore, well sustained by
the intelligent public, and always sanctioned by the
medical profession. Very recently, Mrs. Hawley,
formerly Madame Beaujeu, of England, has com-
menced a series of calisthenic exercises for young
misses in this city, which are recognized by very
distinguished physicians of Philadelphia, New York
and Boston, as worthy of the patronage of parents.
It is unnecessary to enlarge upon the value of ex-
ercise for young ladies in a crowded city. Those
who will take the pains to inspect Mrs. Hawley's
19
282 LECTURES ON
hall, corner of Bromfield and Tremont streets, will
be satisfied of the utility of her system. With a
view of bringing the subject before the profession of
Boston and its neighborhood, that they may avail
themselves of ihe curative means which judicious
calisthenic exercises promise in many conditions of
a debilitated system, particularly in young girls, we
are desirous of directing their attention to this lady's
qualifications and claims."
In order that children be rightly educated, it is
necessary that teachers understand the conditions
on which health of body and mind depend. But
how many of our teachers are thorough physiologists
or phrenologists, and consequently thorough meta-
physicians? And if teachers were entirely qualified
for their high trust, such is the ignorance of parents,
such the state of society, that they could not fulfil
its duties. Still, much might be done that is not
now done, were teachers rightly educated, and had
they moral courage to act in accordance with their
convictions.
In the words of another, " almost the best de-
fence, at least one of the strongest safe-guards of
morality, is the feeling of independence. If the
world think that to be right which you think to be
wrong, follow your own opinion, and preserve your
self-respect. Consider that you would rather be
honorable and despised, than be honored and dispi-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 283
cable. If the world holds you in light esteem be-
cause it misunderstands your character, every mark
of disrespect which it bestows upon you is a certifi-
cate of the beauty and excellence of those virtues
in which it erroneously supposes you to be defi-
cient."
Jf teachers could realize the truth of these senti-
ments, we should not find that "mush of compli-
ance " which we now find in too many teachers.
But how can we expect them to do justice in ihe
education of children, when they have not been
blessed with an education to fit them for this high
trust ? A course must be struck out and pursued
that will strengthen and improve the reasoning
powers. Children at present are not taught or
encouraged to reason as they should be. They are
employed in memorizing words, as Mr. Rantoul
has well said in his remarks on Education, published
in the North American Review. " Education is
not the getting by rote set forms of words, which
may be altogether barren of fruit ; no, nor barely
storing the memory with the information of facts,
however extensive and useful."
Children can easily be taught to reason ; and
we well know that every faculty is strengthened by
judicious use. When the mind is active in reason-
ing, in searching for truth and the causes of things,
no one passion gets the ascendency in such a man-
2S4 LECTURES ON
ner as to remove itself from the control of the will,
and thus lead the individual to folly, fanaticism or
crime. Had the saints of olden times been engaged
in discovering truth, in sound reasoning, they would
not have spent days, weeks, and even years, upon
their knees in prayer, till cavities were worn in the
solid rock, and their knees became callous. Such
a course now would be attributed to an unbalanced
state of the mind, and consequent insanity. Thanks
to progress ; our age is wiser than the days of
witchcraft.
If girls are taught to reason, they will not spend
their days reading fictions, and their nights in mor-
bid dreams of love a love that bears about as
much resemblance to the true and healthful senti-
ment of love, as the blasting simoom does to the
refreshing breeze. Diogenes says that love is the
occupation of the idle ; he might have said, of the
unreasoning. No passion should be allowed to
engross all or nearly all one's time and attention.
God has given us various faculties. All should be
cultivated. All should be exercised. If one as-
sumes an undue prominence, mischief is the result.
The right education of .one child is of immense
importance to others. Whilst we live in society,
we cannot really increase our own happiness with-
out increasing the happiness of others. " True self-
love and social are the same."
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 285
" This is the foundation of all human wisdom,"
says Le Pere Buffier, " the source from which all
virtues purely natural flow, the general principle of
all morals and of all human society, that while I
live with other men, who equally with myself desire
to be happy, I must try to discover the means of
increasing my own happiness, by augmenting that
of others."
I In the beautiful language of the gifted Rantoul,
" Universal education, a higher education, such as
shall put to shame not past ages only, but the pres-
ent, must be provided for. The want is felt and
will not longer be endured without a strenuous ef-
fort to meet it. The philanthropist, the patriot and
the Christian feel the urgent need of a generous de-
velopment of the noblest powers and faculties, and
the richest affections of our common nature, through
that dull mass of humanity in whom they now slum-
ber, inert and almost lifeless. The refinement of
taste, which, without intellectual and moral cultiva-
tion, ends only in elegant imbecility ; financial pros-
perity, which, if not pressed into the service of vir-
tue, may be prostituted to engender corruption
absorbing political interests, which convulse the
Union to its centre, and which unhallowed ambi-
tion may pervert to the destruction of freedom, all
these are insignificant, are as nothing and less than
nothing, compared with this paramount necessity-
236 LECTURES ON
The cry of the age is for true education. Its ad-
vent is longed for, and prayed for, and believed in.
It seems just bursting above our moral horizon, ra-
dient with knowledge and virtue, shedding IMit into
o * DO
the understanding, and pouring warmth into the
heart, a genial sun whose beams are for the healing
of the nations. Glorious visions of future progress,
and blessed omens of their coming consummation
throng upon the soul, and fill it with comfort and
joy, when the evidences of the earnest awakening
of mankind, under the vivifying and quickening in-
fluences of the bright-dawning era, present them-
selves to our view.
" How is the great work to be accomplished?
What are our means of levelling the fortifications,
impregnable since the creation of the world, in which
ignorance and vice have entrenched themselves?
Hope, which was Cesar's only portion when he
went into Gaul ; faith in man's high nature and
destiny ; the ardent enthusiasm which the grand
object to be attained inspires ; the unquenchable
zeal already active, and which will never rest, nor
pause, till the victory is achieved, and darkness ab-
dicates her narrowed empire."
The momentous work of education should be
committed to the care of those who love the work ;
and they should live by their labor, not merely stay
in the world. Dollars and cents can never pay the
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 287
price of a solid and useful, a true education. But
I have known a teacher who had worth and ability,
toil through the weary year, unable to purchase the
bare comforts of life, so small was her salary ; and
yet such was her attraction for the work, that she
would submit to privation, and want even, rather
than relinquish her pleasant labor. The great want
of community is for such teachers.
The remarks of Dr. Channing, in his address at
the Odeon on the 28th of Feb., 1837, are better
than any thing I can present you on this subject :
" We want better teachers, and more teachers,
for all classes of society, for rich and poor, for child-
ren and adults. We want that the resources of the
community should be directed to the procuring of
better instructers, as its highest concern. One of
the surest signs of the regeneration of society will be
the elevation of the art of teaching to the highest
rank in the community. When a people shall learn,
that its greatest benefactors and most important
members are men devoted to the liberal instruction
of all its classes, to the work of raising to life
its buried intellect, it will have opened to itself the
path of true glory. This truth is making its way.
Socrates is now regarded as the greatest man in an
age of great men. The name of Icing has grown
dim before that of apostle. To teach, whether by
word or action, is the highest function on earth.
288
LECTURES ON
" Nothing is more needed, than that men of supe-
rior gifts and of benevolent spirit should devote
themselves to the instruction of the less enlightened
classes in the great end of life, in the dignity of
their nature, in their rights and duties, in the history,
laws and institutions of their country, in the philos-
ophy of their employments, in the laws, harmonies
and productions of outward nature, and especially
in the art of bringing up children in health of body,
and in vigor and purity of mind. We need a new
profession or vocation, the object of which shall be
to wake up the intellect in those spheres where it is
now buried in habitual slumber.
" We want a class of liberal-minded instructers,
whose vocation it shall be to place the views of the
most enlightened minds within the reach of a more
and more extensive portion of their fellow creatures.
The wealth of a community should flow out like
water for the preparation and employment of such
teachers, for enlisting powerful and generous minds
in the work of giving impulse to their race.
" Nor let it be said that men, able and disposed
to carry on this work, must not be looked for in such
a world as ours. Christianity, which has wrought
so many miracles of beneficence, which has sent
forth so many apostles and martyrs, so many How-
ards and Clarksons, can raise up laborers for this
harvest also. Nothing is needed but a new pour-
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 289
ing out of the spirit of Christian love, nothing but a
new comprehension of the brotherhood of the human
race, to call forth efforts which seem impossibilities
in a self-seeking and self-indulging age."
I have no belief that children can be educated in
such a manner as to develope the highest powers
of the body and mind, without attractive industry.
Judicious exercise can do much, but a system of
attractive industry can do more. Schools with
which labor is connected, have already been estab-
lished in our country.
In Miss Beecher's excellent work on Domestic
Economy, I find a sketch of an improved school for
young ladies, which I give you with pleasure, pre-
mising that I do not like the separation of the sexes
in the work of education, though like medicine,
surgery, jails, &c., it may be a necessary evil in the
present state of society. The institution at Oberlin,
Ohio, has all the advantages of the one mentioned
below by Miss Beecher, and the sexes are educated
together, as in a well regulated family. I have
often thought if young persons must be separated
during the period of education, why are not fami-
lies constituted with reference to this rule ? Why
are not some families composed entirely of boys,
and others of girls. As this is not the case. T must
think the separation unnatural, having its origin in
the corruptions of the age. Miss B. asks the fol-
290 LECTURES ON
lowing sensible questions, which it is hoped the
wisdom of our age will satisfactorily answer:
" But are not the most responsible of all duties
committed to the care of woman ? Is it not her
profession to take care of mind, body and soul ?
and that too at the most critical of all periods of
existence ? And is it not as much a matter of pub-
lic concern, that she should be properly qualified for
her duties, as that ministers, lawyers and physicians
should be prepared for theirs ? And is it not as im-
portant to endow institutions that shall make a supe-
rior education accessible to all classes, for females,
as much as for the other sex ? And is it not equally
important, that institutions for females be under the
supervision of intelligent and responsible trustees,
whose duty it shall be to secure a uniform and ap-
propriate education for one sex, as much as for the
other? It would seem as if every mind must ac-
cord an affirmative reply, as soon as the matter is
fairly considered.
"As the education of females is now conducted,
any man or woman that pleases can establish a fe-
male seminary, and secure recommendations that
will attract pupils. But whose business is it to see
that these young females are not huddled into
crowded rooms? or that they do not sleep in ill-ven-
tilated chambers ? or that they have healthful food ?
or that they have the requisite amount of fresh air
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.
and exercise? or that they pursue an appropriate
and systematic course of study ? or that their man-
ners, principles and morals are properly regulated?
Parents either have not the means, or else are not
qualified to judge; or, if they are furnished with
means and capacity, they are often restricted to a
choice of the best school within reach, even when
it is known to be exceedingly objectionable.
" If the writer were to disclose all that could
truly be told of boarding school life, and its influence
on health, manners, disposition, intellect and morals,
it would be a tale which would both astonish and
shock every rational mind. And yet she believes
that such institutions are far better managed in this
country than in any other; and that the number
of those which are subject to imputations in these
respects, is much less than could reasonably be
expected. But it is most surely the case, that
much remains to be done, in order to supply such
institutions as are needed for the proper education
of American women.
" In attempting a sketch of the kind of institu-
tions which are demanded, it is very fortunate that
there is no necessity for presenting a theory which
may or may not be approved by experience. It is
the greatest honor of one of our newest western
states, that it can boast of such an institution, and
one endowed, too, wholly by the munificence of one
292 LECTURES ON
individual. A slight sketch of this institution,
which the writer has examined in all its details, will
give an idea of what can be done, by showing what
has actually been accomplished.
" This institution [the Monticello Female Semi-
nary, endowed by Benjamin Godfrey, Esq., of
Alton, Illinois] is under the supervision of a board
of trustees, appointed by the founder, who hold the
property in trust for the object to which it is de-
voted, and who have the power to fill their own
vacancies. It is furnished with a noble and tasteful
building of stone, so liberal in dimensions and ar-
rangement, that it can accommodate ninety pupils
and teachers, giving one room to every two pupils,
and all being so arranged as to admit of thorough
ventilation. This building is surrounded by exten-
sive grounds, enclosed with handsome fences, where
remains of the primeval forest still offer refreshing
shade for juvenile sports.
" To secure adequate exercise for the pupils, two
methods are adopted. By the first, each young
lady is required to spend two hours in domestic
employments, either in sweeping, dusting, setting
and clearing tables, washing and ironing, or other
household concerns.
" Let not the aristocratic mother and daughter
express their dislike of such an arrangement, till
they can learn how well it succeeds. Let them
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 293
walk, as the writer has done, through the large airy
halls, kept clean and in order by their fair occu-
pants, to the washing and ironing rooms. There
they will see a long hall, conveniently fitted up.
with some thirty neatly painted tubs, with a clean
floor, and water conducted so as to save both labor
and slopping. Let them see some thirty or forty
merry girls, superintended by a motherly lady,
chatting and singing, washing and starching, while
every convenience is at hand, and every thing
around is clean and comfortable. Two hours thus
employed enables each young lady to wash the
articles she used during the previous week, which
is all that is demanded, while thus they are all
practically initiated into the arts and mysteries of
the wash-tub. The superintendent remarked to
the writer, that after a few weeks of probation, her
young washers succeeded quite as well as most of
those whom she could hire, and who made it their
business. Adjacent to the washing room was the
ironing establishment, where another class were
arranged, on the ironing day, around long extended
tables, with heating furnaces, clothes frames, and
all needful appliances.
" By a systematic arrangement of school and
domestic duties, two hours each day, from each of
the pupils, accomplished all the domestic labor of a
family of ninety, except the cooking, which was
LECTURES ON
done by two hired domestics. This part of domes-
tic labor it was deemed inexpedient to incorporate
as a part of the business of the pupils, inasmuch as
it could not be accommodated to the arrangements
of the school, and was in other respects objection-
able.
" Is it asked, how can young ladies paint, play
the piano, and study, when their hands and dresses
must be unfitted by such drudgery ? The woman
who asks this question, has yet to learn that a pure
and delicate skin is better secured by healthful ex-
ercise than by any other method ; and that a young
lady who will spend two hours a day at the wash-
tub or with a broom, is far more likely to have rosy
cheeks, a finely moulded form, and a delicate skin,
than one who lolls all day in her parlor or chamber,
or only leaves them girt in tight dresses, to make
fashionable calls. It is true, that long protracted
daily labor hardens the hand, and unfits it for deli-
cate employments ; but the amount of labor needful
for health produces no such effect. As to dress and
appearance, if neat and convenient accommodations
are furnished, there is no occasion for the exposures
that demand shabby dresses. A dark calico, gen-
teelly made, with an oiled silk apron, and \\ide
cuffs of the same material, secure both good looks
and good service. This plan of domestic employ-
ments for the pupils of this institution, not only
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 295
secures regular healthful exercise, but also reduces
the expenses of education, so as to bring it within
the reach of many who otherwise could never gain
such advantages.
" In addition to this, a system of calisthenic ex-
ercises is introduced, which secures all the advan-
tages which dancing is supposed to effect, and
which is free from the dangerous tendencies of that
fascinating fashionahle amusement. This system
is so combined with music, and constantly varying
evolutions, as to serve as an amusement, and also
as a mode of curing distortions, particularly all ten-
dencies to curvature of the spine ; while at the same
time it tends to promote grace of movement and
easy manners.
"Another advantage of this institution is, an ele-
vated and invigorating course of mental discipline.
Many persons seem to suppose that the chief object
of an intellectual education is the acquisition of
knowledge. But it will be found that this is only
a secondary object. It is the formation of habits
of investigation, of correct reasoning, of persevering
attention, of regular system, of accurate analysis,
and of vigorous mental action, that are the primary
objects to be sought in preparing American women
for their arduous duties, which will demand not only
quickness of perception, but steadiness of purpose,
regularity of system, and perseverance in action.
296 LECTURES ON
" It is for such purposes that the discipline of the
mathematics is so important an element in female
education ; and it is in this aspect that the mere
acquisition of facts, and the attainment of accom-
plishments, should be made of altogether secondary
account.
" In the institution here described, a systematic
course of study is adopted, as in our colleges, de-
signed to occupy three years. The following slight
outline of the course of study will exhibit the liberal
plan adopted in this respect :
" In mathematics, the whole of arithmetic con-
tained in the larger works used in schools, the
whole of Euclid, and such portions from Day's
Mathematics as are requisite to enable the pupils to
demonstrate the various problems in Olmsted's
larger work on natural philosophy. In language,
besides English grammar, a short course in Latin is
required, sufficient to secure an understanding of
the philosophy of the language, and that kind of
mental discipline which the exercise of translating
affords. In philosophy, chemistry, astronomy,
botany, geology and mineralogy, intellectual and
moral philosophy, political economy, and the evi-
dences of Christianity, the same text books are used
as are required at our best colleges. In geography,
the largest work and most thorough course is adopt-
ed ; and in history, a more complete knowledge is
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 297
secured by means of charts and text books, than
mdst of our colleges offer. To these branches are
added Griscom's Physiology, Bigelow's Technolo-
gy, and Jahn's Archaeology, together with a course
of instruction in polite literature, for which Chal-
mer's English Literature is employed as the text
book, each recitation being attended with 'selections
and criticisms from teacher or pupils, on the various
authors brought into notice. Vocal music, on the
plan of the Boston Academy, is a part of the daily
instructions. Linear drawing and pencilling are
designed also to be a part of the course. Instru-
mental music is taught, but not as a part of the reg-
ular course of study.
" To secure the proper instruction in all these
branches, the division of labor adopted in colleges
is pursued. Each teacher has distinct branches as
her department, for which she is responsible, and in
which she is independent. By this method the
teachers have sufficient time both to prepare them-
selves and to impart instruction and illustration in
the class-room.
" The writer has never before seen the principle
of the division of labor and responsibility so perfectly
carried out in any female institution; and believes
that experience will prove that this is the true
model for combining, in appropriate proportions, the
20
298 LECTURES ON
agency of both sexes in carrying forward such an
institution.
" One other thing should be noticed, to the credit
of the rising state where this institution is located.
A female association has been formed, embracing a
large portion of the ladies of standing and wealth,
the design of which is to educate, gratuitously, at
this and other similar institutions, such females as
are anxious to obtain a good education, and are des-
titute of the means. If this enterprise is continued
with the same energy and perseverance as has been
manifested the last few years, Illinois will take the
lead of her sister states in well educated women ;
and if the views in the preceding pages are correct,
this will give her precedence in every intellectual
and moral advantage.
" Many who are not aware of the great economy
secured by a proper division of labor, will not un-
derstand how so extensive a course can be properly
completed in three years. But in this institution
none are received under fourteen, and a certain
amount of previous acquisition is required in order
to admission, as is done in our colleges. This se-
cures a diminution of classes, so that but few studies
are pursued at one time; while the number of well
qualified teachers is so adequate, that full time is
afforded for all needful instruction and illustration.
Where teachers have so many classes that they
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 299
merely have time to find out what their pupils learn
from books, without any aid from their teacher, the
acquisitions of the pupils are vague and imperfect,
and soon pass away ; so that an immense amount of
expense, time and labor are spent in acquiring what
is lost about as fast as it is gained.
" Parents are little aware of the immense waste
incurred by the present mode of conducting female
education. In the wealthy classes, young girls are
sent to school, as a matter of course, year after
year, confined six hours a day to the school house,
and required to add some time out of school to ac-
quiring school exercises. Thus, during the most
critical period of life, they are confined, six hours a
day, in a room filled with an atmosphere vitiated by
many breaths, and are constantly kept under some
sort of responsibility in regard to mental effort.
Their studies are pursued at random, often changed
with changing schools, while one school book after
another (heavily taxing the parent's purse) is conned
awhile and then supplanted by another. Teachers
usually have so many pupils, and such a variety of
branches to teach, that little time can be afforded to
each pupil, while scholars, at this thoughtless period
of life, feeling sure of going to school as long as they
please, feel little interest in their pursuits.
" The writer believes that the actual amount of
education, permanently secured by most young la-
300 LECTURES.
dies from the age of ten to fourteen, could all be
acquired in one year at the institution described, by
a young lady at the age of fifteen or sixteen."
Other schools, perhaps still better adapted to the
wants of humanity, will doubtless be established
hereafter. We have great reason to be encourp.^ed
when we look at the "signs of the times." \Virh
the intelligence and virtue that exist in community,
we may be-assured that our course is onward. May
it not only be onward, but upward, for ever.
THE END.
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